Tourney opens on February 19, 2011:

ICC works to ease visa problems

Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh who are co-hosting the flagship event have promised to speed-up and simplify the visa issuing process, ICC vice president Sharad Pawar told reporters in Colombo.

“With a valid ticket, the visa process for the matches will be made easier,” Pawar said after a meeting of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 central organising committee in Colombo. The 14-nation showpiece event, held every four years, opens on February 19, 2011 with India taking on Bangladesh at the Mirpur stadium near Dhaka. While Sri Lanka allows visa on arrival for foreign tourists for up to 30 days, tourists travelling to India need to apply in advance for a single-entry visa. The ICC said the organising committee was working with the Indian government to allow multiple entry visas for all supporters with valid match tickets, except those from Pakistan.

Pakistan, the fourth Test-playing nation in South Asia, were removed as co-hosts due to security concerns in the volatile country. The 43-day tournament will be played across 13 venues in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and ends with the final on April 2 at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium, which is under renovation. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said preparations were in full swing in all three countries to renovate and build new stadiums. Tickets will go on sale in June and will be priced at between 50 US cents and around 50 dollars, officials said. “Ticket prices will be kept as affordable as possible to allow younger fans to fill the stadium,” Lorgat said. The other teams in the fray will be England, South Africa, the West Indies, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands and Kenya.

AFP