Former West Indies legend Michael Holding bashed the International Cricket Council (ICC) for their ‘hypocritical stance’ for not allowing Australia batter Usman Khawaja to show solidarity with the Palestinians suffering in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. 

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Sharing his thoughts on the same, Holding tore into ICC, claiming if the mantra was to keep politics and agendas that come with it away from the game, how did they allow players to take knees for Black Lives Matter?

When Khawaja claimed to be wearing shoes with ‘all lives are equal’ written on them ahead of the Perth Test, the ICC warned him and denied him permission to don anything that breaches their rules. After that, Khawaja decided to wear the black armband, for which ICC reprimanded him. 

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Speaking to The Weekend Australian, Holding said, “The ICC regulations say re messaging ‘approval shall not be granted for messages, which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes’.”

“So, how the f*** people were allowed to take a knee for BLM (Black Lives Matter), and stumps were covered with LGBTQ colours?” Holding added.

Further slamming the cricket’s governing body for not taking a clear stance on this issue, Holding said, “If it had been most other organisations that showed some semblance of consistency with their attitude and behaviour on issues, I could claim surprise, but not them. Once again, they show their hypocrisy and lack of moral standing as an organisation.” 

Khawaja continues to take stance

Despite being shrugged off a few times over the same issue, Khawaja continues to stand for what he believes in. 

On Sunday, two days before the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, Khawaja was spotted donning a black dove logo and holding an olive branch on his bat and shoes during the training session.

Per The Sydney Morning Herald, the Aussie batter was also spotted using a sticker on his bat, with a reference to one of the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

While Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association did not object to Khawaja donning the logo, the ICC sent him an official word, barring him from wearing the same during the second Test, which starts on December 26.

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