DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC), cricket’s global governing body on Saturday rejected a plea mentioned in a letter dated 22 February by BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, which urged all member countries to end ties with Pakistan due to its state-sponsored terrorism.
The Committee of Administrators (CoA) reportedly likened Pakistan’s isolation with South Africa being banned due to apartheid in the 70s and 80s.
However, ICC President Shashank Manohar said that the rationale for the denial was plain simple: the governing body’s primary duty concerned solving all cricket-related issues and not political ones.
ESPNcricinfo reported on Sunday that Manohar is said to have raised the agenda on his own rather than BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary. In a press conference on Monday in Mumbai, Chaudhary acknowledged the ICC’s stance on the matter and expressed satisfaction at its assurance and the support of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Colin Graves, towards the ideal security measures taken for the players, match officials and fans from India at this summer’s World Cup 2019.
ICC CEO David Richardson stated: “As you would expect for a global sporting event, the ICC, in partnership with the ECB has a robust security plan in place for the Men’s Cricket World Cup. We work closely with the authorities in our host countries to ensure that the safety of players, officials and fans is a priority.
“Should those authorities raise the threat level of the event based on intelligence, we will, of course, uplift our security commitment as appropriate. We will continue to work with the ECB and our Members throughout the build-up to and during the tournament to keep everyone abreast of the situation.”
Relations between India and Pakistan are at an extreme low following last month’s Pulwama terror attacks that killed more than 40 CRPF soldiers.
It remains to be seen whether Pakistani players will receive visas for the 2021 T20 World Cup and the 2023 50-over World Cup tournaments, both which will be hosted by India. According to ICC rules, it is the BCCI and Indian government that is in charge of visa issues and these are dealt a year prior a global cricket competition.
