Islamabad – Pakistan has formally rejected the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) statement condemning the alleged deaths of three Afghan cricketers in Pakistan’s recent counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, calling the comment “selective, biased and premature.”
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ataullah Tarar issued Pakistan’s first official response late Friday, saying the ICC had “advanced a disputed allegation without any independent verification.”
“Pakistan, a prime victim of cross-border terrorism, rejects the ICC’s selective, biased and premature comment that advances a disputed allegation that three ‘Afghan cricketers’ died in an airstrike,” Tarar posted on X.
“The ICC has cited no independent verification to substantiate these claims. Pakistan strongly contests this characterization and calls for immediate correction.”
Pakistan’s Criticism of ICC Conduct
Tarar said the ICC’s statement appeared to follow “a troubling pattern of amplification without evidence,” noting that “within hours of the ICC release, its Chair Jay Shah publicly echoed the same claim on X, followed by the Afghanistan Cricket Board repeating the ICC’s own language.”
He described the sequence as an attempt to “manufacture an echo chamber” that undermined the ICC’s credibility as a neutral sports regulator.
The minister also referenced previous disputes, including the “handshake controversy” during the 2023 Asia Cup, saying the current ICC leadership had “repeatedly generated avoidable controversies that have disproportionately targeted Pakistan cricket.”
“A global regulator must not appear to push any biased narrative nor allow match-management controversies to recur,” Tarar said, adding that the ICC should “restore neutrality, uphold international standards of fair play and avoid being drawn into politically motivated narratives.”
Pakistan’s Broader Position
Islamabad maintains that its October 17 precision strikes in Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktika provinces targeted militant hideouts belonging to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group (HGB), a faction of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) responsible for a suicide bombing and ground assault on Kashif Shaheed Fort in North Waziristan just hours earlier.
Officials stressed that the operations were intelligence-based and focused on combatants, not civilians.
“Pakistan does not target civilians or sports facilities,” a senior foreign-affairs official told HTN. “If any civilians were present near militant compounds, that would be deeply regrettable, but responsibility lies with those who embed terror networks among residential areas.”
Pakistan’s Foreign Office has not yet issued a separate statement on the ICC matter but officials confirmed that the episode had been “noted with concern.” Diplomatic channels, they said, may take up the issue through the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to seek clarification from the ICC.
Selective Outrage and Silence
Analysts in Islamabad pointed out that the ICC had remained silent after a TTP-linked blast at a cricket ground in Bajaur in September killed a Pakistani player, Fazalullah.
“When terrorists kill Pakistani cricketers, there’s no statement. When Pakistan kills the terrorists, the ICC rushes to grieve,” an analyst told HTN. “That’s not neutrality, that’s selective outrage.”
They added that the ICC’s statement relied entirely on an appeal by the Afghanistan Cricket Board, without independent confirmation or cross-checking with Pakistani authorities.
Under ICC procedure, condolence statements are typically released only after verification by recognized boards or international agencies, a step critics say was bypassed.
Broader Implications
The controversy has reignited debate over the intersection of sport and geopolitics.
“If cricket institutions react to unverified propaganda from a regime accused of sheltering militants,” said one senior journalist, “they risk legitimizing disinformation under the guise of compassion.”
Tarar concluded that Pakistan would continue to urge the ICC to “uphold independence and keep sport free from politics,” emphasizing that cricket should remain “a unifying platform, not a propaganda tool.”
