It was definitely not the build-up the Pakistan football team would have anticipated ahead of its SAFF Championship opener against hosts India, with ticketing issues forcing more than half of the side to arrive only six hours ahead of the tie on Wednesday. The bizarre chain of events was set off after the Pakistan team arrived in Mumbai from Mauritius at 1:00 AM on Wednesday morning.

The Pakistan squad comprising 32 members, including players and coaching staff, could not find seats in a single aircraft and was forced to split into two groups.