The ICC today confirmed that Afghanistan will arrive in Toronto in time to play its ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier opener after resolving travel issues.

When the information on Afghanistan’s inability to take part in the tournament was released on Monday afternoon, the team had not been issued visas, its flight bookings had been cancelled and there were no alternative flights available to transport it to Toronto before the 5 September deadline.

However, the ICC was advised on Tuesday morning that the players’ visas had come through and a mass cancellation on the main leg allowed the players to board Tuesday afternoon’s flight to Dubai from Kabul and then all the way to Toronto on Wednesday morning.

The event technical committee had earlier ruled that if Afghanistan and Sierra Leone managed to arrive by 5 September they could possibly still play any missed matches on the tournament’s reserve days.

As regards the Sierra Leone team, the situation is not very encouraging as the ICC is informed that players’ visas are still yet to be obtained by the Sierra Leone Cricket Association. All stakeholders continue to apply best endeavours to try to resolve this matter.

Tournament Director David Thorley said: “After we had lost all hope to see Afghanistan players in action in the tournament, the stars really aligned for them in the last 24 to 48 hours and now they’re on their way to Toronto.

“This is great news for the tournament and for cricket. Even after the earlier announcement that Afghanistan would not be able to make it, and following some fresh information, all teams were advised that there was still a chance of them getting here at the pre-event captains’ and coaches’ meeting on 31 August.”

The tournament started on Tuesday 1 September and on the opening day, Canada defeated Uganda by 44 runs, Ireland beat the Netherlands by 75 runs, the USA beat Vanuatu by 45 runs and PNG beat Hong Kong by four wickets.