Published: Aug 28, 2016, 07:58 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 28, 2016, 07:58 PM (IST)
England’s tour of Bangladesh has come under threat after details emerged of an alleged ISIS plan to target Australian cricketers last year. According to a report, Cricket Australia, decided to pull out of their Test tour of Bangladesh in October last year, after it had received information regarding a “credible” security threat in the country. The details have although been kept confidential. The Australian government had received information about an ISIS attack on the Australian team in Dhaka. However, the Cricket Australia has not changed its stand, saying the threat as for Australian nationals in Bangladesh, rather than Australian cricketers. READ: BCB officials happy as England continue with Bangladesh tour 2016
CA then made a quick decision to withdraw Steven Smith and co. from the tour and sometime later an Italian tourist was murdered in the city.
“We stand by our decision to postpone tours to Bangladesh due to serious concerns about the safety and security of the Australian team and officials,” said a CA spokesperson, as quoted by Fox Sports.
“We will continue to monitor advice from ASIO, DFAT and our own security advisors about the security risk for any future tours of the Australian team in Bangladesh and make a decision based on this advice closer to any potential tour,” he added.
Meanwhile, former Bangladesh Cricket head of performance Mal Loye, in an interview with The Daily Mail, revealed he had quit his post after learning about the planned attacks on the Australians.
“The week I left, the Australian team didn’t turn up because the terrorists had planned to take us out when we had an event sorted with the touring team,” Loye said. “My boss’s wife was arranging the event with the Australians. The Australian Government saw the plans from the underworld guys about what was going to happen. The plans didn’t work out for the terrorists because the Australian team didn’t arrive there. The Italians got shot that week. The terrorists obviously thought they’d take a few people out while they were there. That was enough for me. I knew after the shootings that my freedom as a westerner had gone,” he added.
