Islamabad, September 16, 2025: Human traffickers have been caught using a bizarre new tactic: disguising migrants as a professional football team.
According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), a 22-member bogus squad boarded a flight from Sialkot to Japan under the pretense of representing a local football club. However, Japanese authorities soon detected the deception, declared their travel documents fraudulent, and deported the entire group back to Pakistan.
The FIA confirmed that the ringleader, identified as Malik Waqas, has been arrested. Investigators said Waqas created a fake club named Golden Football Trial, gave the men basic training to appear as players, and charged each migrant nearly Rs4 million for the scheme.
An FIR has been registered at the FIA’s Gujranwala police station, and authorities have pledged to dismantle the broader trafficking network.
Officials and analysts said the case underscores the increasingly desperate and dangerous methods smugglers are using, exploiting vulnerable people with false promises of a future abroad while exposing them to fraud, detention, and deportation.
