Tag: Usman Khawaja Palestine

Australia’s Usman Khawaja has been denied permission to place a peace symbol on his bat and shoes for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan, reports said Sunday.

A sticker showing a black dove and the words 01:UDHR — a reference to Article One of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — was on his bat and shoes during training in Melbourne on Sunday.

The star batter had multiple meetings with Cricket Australia over recent days to find a message that would be appropriate for the second Test this week, local media said.

But his latest humanitarian gesture has been turned down by the International Cricket Committee, The Australian and Melbourne Age newspapers reported.

The ICC were not immediately available for comment.

Usman Khawaja, a Muslim, was stopped from wearing shoes emblazoned with the hand-written slogans “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” during the first Test in Perth.

The 36-year-old had wanted to show his support for the people of Gaza.

But he was told they flouted ICC rules on messages that relate to politics, religion or race.

Usman Khawaja donned the black armband during Australia’s 360-run victory in Perth, a move seen at the time as support for people in Gaza, where thousands have been killed.

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However, the ICC said it breached their clothing and equipment regulations.

“Usman displayed a personal message (armband) during the first Test match against Pakistan without seeking the prior approval of Cricket Australia and the ICC to display it, as required in the regulations for personal messages,” the ICC said late Thursday.

“This is a breach under the category of an ‘other breach’ and the sanction for a first offence is a reprimand.”

Khawaja said he would not wear an armband during the second Test in Melbourne next week but insisted that it was for a “personal bereavement” and vowed to contest the ruling.

“No, I’m not wearing it again. As I said to the ICC, the armband was for a personal bereavement,” he told reporters in Melbourne.

“The armband was different to my shoes. The shoes were very obvious. At the end of the day, I didn’t wear the shoes. I respected the rules and procedures and left it at that.”

He added that being reprimanded for the armband “makes no sense” and pointed to other players who had previously put stickers on their bats and names on their shoes without approval and escaped punishment, urging the ICC to be more consistent.

Khawaja spoke on Friday about how the Israel-Hamas conflict had affected him, saying he despaired at seeing how many children had been killed.

“When I’m looking at my Instagram and seeing innocent kids, videos of them dying, passing away, that’s what hit me the hardest,” he said.

“I don’t have any agendas other than trying to shine a light on what I feel really passionately, really strongly about.”

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Australia’s Usman Khawaja on Friday claimed that the black armband he wore in the first Test against Pakistan was for a “personal bereavement” and not politically motivated after the star batter was reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The 36-year-old donned the armband during the team’s 360-run victory in Perth, a move seen at the time as support for people in Gaza, where thousands have been killed.

He had wanted to wear shoes emblazoned with the hand-written slogans “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” during the match, saying he had been hit hard by the Israel-Hamas conflict.

But Pakistan-born Khawaja, who is Muslim, was told that it flouted ICC rules on messages that relate to politics, religion or race.

When Cricket Australia (CA) expressed their hopes that the opener would uphold the rules, Usman Khawaja covered the slogans with a semi-transparent tape.

However, the words written on his shoes remained partially visible — only in close-up — in the colour of the Palestinian flag.

Khawaja insisted he told the ICC during the match that it was for a personal bereavement and had no hidden meaning.

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However, the ICC said it breached their clothing and equipment regulations.

“Usman displayed a personal message (armband) during the first Test match against Pakistan without seeking the prior approval of Cricket Australia and the ICC to display it, as required in the regulations for personal messages,” the ICC said late Thursday.

“This is a breach under the category of an ‘other breach’ and the sanction for a first offence is a reprimand.”

Khawaja said he would not wear an armband during the second Test in Melbourne next week but remained defiant.

“No, I’m not wearing it again. As I said to the ICC, the armband was for a personal bereavement,” he told reporters in Melbourne.

“The armband was different to my shoes. The shoes were very obvious. At the end of the day, I didn’t wear the shoes. I respected the rules and procedures and left it at that.”

He added that being reprimanded for the armband “makes no sense” and pointed to other players who had previously put stickers on their bats and names on their shoes without approval and escaped punishment, urging the ICC to be more consistent.

“I will just be asking and contesting that they (ICC) make it fair for everyone and they have consistency in how they officiate. That’s all I ask for, and from my point of view, that consistency hasn’t been done yet,” he said.

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MELBOURNE: Australia’s left-handed opener Usman Khawaja on Thursday, was charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for staging a muted protest against the ongoing war in Palestine.

“Usman Khawaja has been charged for breaching Clause F of the Clothing and Equipment Regulations, which can be found on the ICC Playing Conditions page. The sanctions for a breach of the regulations are outlined in Appendix 2,” an ICC spokesperson said.

“Usman displayed a personal message (arm band) during the 1st Test Match against Pakistan without seeking the prior approval of Cricket Australia and the ICC to display it, as required in the regulations for personal messages. This is a breach under the category of an “other breach” and the sanction for a first offence is a reprimand.”

The opener earlier wanted to wear shoes with the hand-written slogans “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” during the first Test of the three-match series against Pakistan at Perth.

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But Pakistan-born Khawaja, who is Muslim, was told that it flouted ICC rules on messages that relate to politics, religion or race.

When Cricket Australia (CA) expressed their hopes that the opener would uphold the rules, Usman Khawaja covered the slogans with a semi-transparent tape.

However, the words written on his shoes remained partially visible — only in close-up — in the colour of the Palestinian flag.

Later, Khawaja donned a black armband to show solidarity with Palestine.

He also spoke to Fox Cricket before going on to bat and criticised ICC’s “inconsistent ruling” while asserting that some players have previously been approved to show personal messages that surrounded topics of politics, religion or race.

“I just think that so much has happened in the past that sets a precedent,” Usman Khawaja told Fox Cricket.

“Other guys that have religious things on their equipment, under the ICC guidelines that’s not technically allowed, but the ICC never says anything on that,” he added.

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