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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a blanket ban on all future participation in the World Championship of Legends (WCL), accusing the tournament organizers of hypocrisy and biased conduct.<\/p>\n
The decision came following the Board of Governors’ (BoG) 79th meeting, held virtually on Sunday under the chairmanship of PCB head Mohsin Naqvi.<\/p>\n
In a strongly worded statement, the PCB expressed “considerable disappointment” over the WCL\u2019s decision to award points to a team that willfully forfeited a match, while also taking exception to what it called the \u201chypocritical and biased\u201d language in WCL press releases, particularly surrounding the cancellation of high-profile Pakistan vs India legends matches.<\/p>\n
Read More:\u00a0Holder\u2019s last-ball heroics level series as West Indies stun Pakistan<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe contents of the said press releases highlight a duality where the narrative of \u2018peace through sport\u2019 is selectively applied,\u201d the PCB stated. \u201cSporting events are being held hostage to political expediency and narrow commercial interests.\u201d<\/p>\n It is noteworthy that on July 20, India Champions refused to play<\/a> against Pakistan in the group stage match of the tournament, which led to the match\u2019s cancellation. The WCL management subsequently awarded shared points to both teams, a decision that eventually helped India qualify for the semi-final \u2014 only for them to again decline to play, allowing Pakistan to progress to the final.<\/p>\n The governing body condemned the tournament\u2019s apparent disregard for the principle of sporting neutrality, calling the WCL\u2019s justification for the cancellation \u201cfar removed from cricketing merit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe WCL\u2019s apology for \u2018hurting sentiments\u2019, whilst being farcical, inadvertently acknowledges that the cancellation was not based on sporting grounds but rather on succumbing to a specific nationalistic narrative,\u201d the statement read. \u201cThis bias, masquerading as sensitivity, sends an unacceptable message to the international sporting community.\u201d<\/p>\n