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Australia’s Usman Khawaja was condemned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for wea ring a black armband in support of Palestine during the 1st Test against Pakistan. On Thursday, the ICC released a statement addressing Khawaja's actions and reprimanded the Aussie opener. Khawaja had “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” written on his boots in the colours of the Palestinian flag.
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He wore these shoes during training before the opening Test last week. The Australian opener wanted to wear the boots in the game, according to Australian media reports but couldn't do so under ICC regulations that prohibit messages related to political, religious or racial activities or causes.
Coming into the Test match, Usman Khawaja wore these shoes with tape on these messages and also sported a black armband as a symbol of protest. Hence, Khawaja was reprimanded by the ICC for breaching its Clothing and Equipment Regulations.
The statement released by ICC said, “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.”
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“Usman displayed a personal message (armband) 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.”
