‘We cannot boycott…’ BCCI explains why India vs Pakistan match cannot be cancelled News24 –
India will be playing against Pakistan on September 14 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. But this one is not like any regular match, there has been a lot of questions raised and people are calling for a boycott of the match across all social media platforms. The anger has stemmed in after the recent Pahalgam Attack which took lives of 26 innocent people.
Amid all the uproar, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has addressed the concern and clarified that the board had no choice but to play against Pakistan. He mentioned that the decision was aligned with the policy of central government.
“We have decided to participate in the Asia Cup because it is a multinational competition. It is just like an Olympic, any FIFA tournament, AFC tournament, or International Athletics Tournament. So we cannot boycott the multinational tournament because if we boycott this tournament, that will bring a lot of negativity for all our future endeavours of hosting any multinational tournament in the country,” Saikia told Hindustan Times.
Saikia further mentioned that the boycott is possible in bilateral events but not multilateral.
“So therefore, as it is a multinational competition, we are participating because we do not have a direct call or direct decision whether to play or not to play. Had it been a bilateral tournament, we could have always said that we would not play against any hostile country. And so far as Pakistan is concerned, we are not playing any bilateral tournament since 2012-13 onwards,” he added.
“We have decided to take a call that Pakistan is not friendly with us and they are always acting against our country. Therefore, we decided not to play as BCCI against PCB. But when it is an international tournament like last year’s T20 tournament in the West Indies and the USA, or any other tournament or maybe in February, also, there will be the ICC T20 World Cup or the present ICC tournament or the Champions Trophy, we are playing it because in those tournaments we do not have a direct call, we have to play. Otherwise, the whole tournament will get diluted,” he said.
He also spoke about India’s bid for Olympics 2030, not playing against Pakistan will hamper their chance to host it.
“And if we do that, then all other international associations will take action against the Indian Sports Federation. Suppose India is not participating in an AFC football tournament or a FIFA qualifying tournament or the Davis Cup, or the Thomas Cup, then in future, if we want to host a Commonwealth tournament in India or the Olympics in the 2030s, all these factors will take an adverse position for India to bid for those tournaments to be held in India. And if the Indian association is barred, suppose India decides not to play in an international athletics tournament, tomorrow the Indian Athletic Association will be barred or there will be fines,” he added.
“As a result, our players will not be able to participate and compete in any international tournament. Therefore, considering all these aspects, the central government has laid down a guideline and a policy that, so far as bilateral tournament is concerned, India is not going to play against any hostile country. But so far as multinational, we will play,” he said.
“So we follow that guideline of the central government, and we are following it because it is in the interest of the game, whether it is cricket, football, athletics, boxing, badminton and the players involved in those games. If it is cricket also, we have to do it because it is being permitted under the present central government policy,” he added.
Despite the controversy, Saikia struck a confident note, expressing faith in Suryakumar Yadav’s leadership and Team India’s chances against Pakistan.
“Whatever noise is being made regarding tomorrow’s match, I only pray that India performs very well in tomorrow’s match. We have to be the winner not only in the air or on the borders but also on the cricket ground and the cricket pitch.