Fake Football Team Trafficking Scandal Uncovered in Pakistan: 22 Deported from Japan

Sialkot – Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has exposed a major human trafficking scheme in which 22 individuals posing as members of a football team traveled from Sialkot Airport to Japan on forged documents.

Japanese authorities detected the falsified paperwork upon arrival, deporting the group back to Pakistan. The FIA confirmed that Malik Waqas, the alleged mastermind behind the operation, has been arrested, and a formal case has been registered in Gujranwala.

According to investigators, the traffickers had trained the men to imitate professional football players and charged each of them 4 million rupees. The suspect allegedly produced fake registration certificates in the name of the Pakistan Football Federation, as well as falsified documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to secure visas and schedule fake matches in Japan.

During interrogation, Waqas reportedly confessed to orchestrating a similar operation in January 2024, when 17 individuals were sent to Japan under the guise of a football team.

The FIA described the case as a “serious transnational trafficking scandal” and said further investigations are under way.