Malik divorce clears way for Mirza marriage
The love match between India’s top female tennis player, Sania Mirza, and former Pakistan cricket player, Shoaib Malik, has not been without its twists and turns but as their impending nuptials approach one obstacle looks to be have been cleared from their path.
A marriage between two high profile athletes from countries that share an uneasy relationship was always going to attract the attention of more than just friends and family, but when another woman claimed she had wed Malik back in 2002 the spotlight on the couple, predictably, intensified.
As a result of that alleged marriage Indian police were reported to have seized Malik’s passport and questioned the cricketer over the allegations, made by a woman from Hyderabad, Ayesha Siddiqui.
Mailk later told a news conference that he would co-operate with Indian authorities and, "I am here to clear my name, and for that I am not leaving the country".
He’s still in India, but as for clearing his name, the latest reports emerging about the whole affair are that Malik has decided to sign divorce papers.
“We wanted a divorce without money and we are very happy that it has been done,” said Farisa Siddiqui, the mother of Ayesha Siddiqui, in a televised press conference. She also told the media that the police complaint against Malik had been withdrawn.
So, that’s that then. Malik and Mirza are free to become husband and wife and everything can proceed according to the previously announced plan. Unless there’s any truth in a couple of other rumours that are doing the rounds at the moment.
As the news that Malik signed the divorce papers has broken, speculation that Sania and Shoaib have already said “I do” has also begun to gather steam with some reports hypothesising that the pair have already tied the knot at a private ceremony in Dubai, where they intend to base themselves after they’ve wed, and Malik was only in Hyderabad for the wedding reception.
Yet more reports are floating around that the wedding might be postponed from the originally planned date of April 15th, and with all the hubbub surrounding the event you could hardly blame the couple if that’s the case.
If, of course, they haven’t already made their vows.
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