New Delhi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a complete ban on its future participation in the World Championship of Legends (WCL), citing serious concerns over the tournament's handling of recent events and accusing the organisers of hypocrisy and bias.
In an official statement released following the 79th meeting of its Board of Governors (BoG), which was held virtually under the chairmanship of Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB expressed strong disapproval over the conduct of the WCL, especially in light of the controversial semi-final clash between India and Pakistan that failed to take place.
The governing body criticised WCL’s decision to award points to India Legends after the team opted out of the semi-final against Pakistan, labelling the move as "appalling" and inconsistent with the values of sporting fairness. “The PCB, during its 79th BoG meeting held virtually under the chairmanship of Mohsin Naqvi, reviewed with considerable disappointment WCL’s appalling conduct of awarding points to a willfully forfeiting team, and the content of the press releases of the WCL announcing the cancellation of the scheduled India vs. Pakistan legends matches, which were tainted with hypocrisy and bias,” read the PCB's official statement.
It further criticised WCL for exhibiting double standards under the guise of promoting peace through sport. “The contents of the said press releases highlight a duality where the narrative of ‘peace through sport’ is selectively applied and sporting events are held hostage to political expediency and narrow commercial interests.”
The PCB noted that these developments reflect an “intolerable pattern of external influence” and a “disregard for the principles of sporting neutrality.” Citing these reasons, the board declared that it could no longer justify its participation in a tournament where the integrity of fair play and unbiased governance appears to be compromised.
“In light of this unfortunate development... the Pakistan Cricket Board is compelled to take a firm stance. The PCB can no longer condone participation in an event where the fundamental principles of fair play and unbiased administration are compromised by external pressures,” the statement concluded.
The controversy stemmed from the withdrawal of the India Legends team from their scheduled semi-final against Pakistan in Birmingham. Several Indian players, including Shikhar Dhawan, had previously expressed their unwillingness to play against Pakistan during the league stage, leading to heightened tensions ahead of the semi-final clash.
Attendees of the PCB’s virtual BoG meeting included Sumair Ahmed Syed, Salman Naseer, Zaheer Abbas, Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Sajjad Ali Khokhar, Zafarullah Jadgal, Tanveer Ahmed, Tariq Sarwar, Muhammad Ismail Qureshi, Anwaar Ahmad Khan, Adnan Malik, Usman Wahla (special invitee), and Mir Hassan Naqvi (Additional Secretary).
With IANS inputs