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Cricket Australia (CA) has banned opener Usman Khawaja from wearing shoes with the slogans "Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal" in Palestinian colors of red, black, white, and green for the first Test against Pakistan in Perth.
The left-handed batter wore them during a training session on Tuesday and said he wanted to sport them on Day 1 of the Perth Test on Thursday. But late on Wednesday, the CA released a statement citing the ICC rules which don't allow political messaging.
“We support the right of our players to express personal opinions,” a CA statement said. “But the ICC has rules in place which prohibit the display of personal messages which we expect the players to uphold.”
Khawaja has voiced support for Palestinians in Gaza and for an end to casualties on both sides involved in the Israel war on social media.
The ICC rules say that players can't display any personal messages on their clothing without the approval of their cricket board.
However, the world body straightforwardly bars players from sporting messages related to "political, religious or racial activities or causes". The ICC believes that such messages can spread 'divisive' agendas in a sport meant to unite communities.
"We support Usman Khawaja" - Pat Cummins
Australia captain Pat Cummins came out in Usman Khawaja's support. Cummins stated that although the batter has agreed to not wear the shoes, he didn't think the message was "divisive", adding that he supports what Khawaja was trying to signify.
“It’s one of our strongest points, our team, that everyone has their own passionate views and individual thoughts,” Cummins told reporters on Wednesday. "I chatted to Uzzie briefly about it today. I don’t think his intention was to make too bit of a fuss, but we support him. He said he won’t (wear the shoes) I don’t know if Uzzie was across (the ICC rules). On his shoes were, ‘All Lives Are Equal’. I don’t think that’s very divisive. I don’t think anyone can really have too many complaints about that."
“Everyone in our team has their own individual thoughts, and I love that. You want everyone to being their own individual self to the team. What was on the shoes, ‘All Lives Are Equal’. I support that,” the skipper added.
The first Test between Australia and Pakistan in Perth will begin at 7:50 am IST on Thursday.
