Genuine Gaming’s Managing Director and Co-Founder, Royce An, announced today on Twitter that both Awais and Atif, who are Tekken players for Genuine Gaming, are stuck in immigration ahead of their appearance at the Tokyo Master’s.
Both Awais and Atif are based out of Pakistan but were acquired by Genuine Gaming, a local Australian based organisation, to compete in the popular fighting game title, Tekken. It was announced via Genuine Gaming’s social media platforms on October 22nd that both players had successfully acquired visas to attend the Tokyo Masters held in Tokyo, Japan.
Genuine Gaming have been pushing the agenda of wanting to promote the region of Pakistan to the wider fighting game community and showcase that Pakistan has extremely strong talent. The Tokyo Masters is one event that gives the organisation a massive opportunity to do so.
Royce An announced via his Twitter account in the early hours of the morning that both players are caught up in immigration. His thread reads “I’ve been waiting for two hours at the airport and have been updated that Awais and Atif are stuck in immigration. The boys will need to sleep at the airport until tomorrow morning, then they will be interrogated again with an interpreter. This blows my mind.”
He later assured the community by stating “let’s stay positive. We will do everything we can to help the boys. They are safe and just waiting for a translator. I will continue to update everyone with anything I find out. It’s 7:00am here and the earliest we can get a translator in, is 9:00am.”
Members of the Pakistan fighting community and those from around the world have been responding to Royce An’s thread, expressing their outrage at Japan for putting the players through this scenario.
Royce An, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Genuine Gaming has made a statement to us, stating “it took three weeks for the visa process to be completed and it was very tedious. I decided to fly to Tokyo last minute, once I heard the visa was granted, so I could meet the boys for the first time after signing them.”
“They were scheduled to arrive at Haneda Airport at 10:45pm, I arrived at 10:55pm. I received a message at roughing 11:30pm stating they could not leave and were being questioned. I spoke to the information desk and they called immigration for me. I explained the situation and said I could provide all the evidence they required but alas it was too late,” Royce continued.
“By the time it was 12:30am, I was told that they would need to wait for an interpreter. This whole situation is frustrating for me as we worked so hard to get these visas. So many people from Japan and Pakistan have helped us and we thank them all so much,” concluded Royce.
With the Tokyo Masters kicking off on the 26th of October, both Genuine Gaming and fans of the players will be crossing their fingers for both players to be able to enter Japan and compete.
Here’s The Thing are in close contact with those involved and will do everything in our power to report on the story as it unfolds. Stay connected via our social channels.
Updates following initial release:
(12:30 PM) Both players are currently being interrogated by Japanese custom officials; could take a few hours or the whole day.
Royce An of Genuine Gaming has arrived to assist, but has stated it's currently a waiting game.
(13:39 PM) Awais and Atif have both been granted entry into Japan and will be set to compete in the Tokyo Masters under the Genuine Gaming banner.
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