Published: Mar 21, 2019, 05:03 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 21, 2019, 05:03 PM (IST)
Pakistan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting Fawad Ahmed Chaudhry informed that Pakistan will not be airing the Indian Premier League (IPL 2019) which gets underway on March 23.
The move comes after India’s official broadcaster of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), DSports pulled out from the Twenty20 league held between February 14-March 17 following the Pulwama terror attack which claimed the lives of over 40 CRPF personnel in the Jammu and Kashmir region.
India-based producers of PSL, IMG Reliance also pulled out from producing to protest the dastardly attacks. “During the PSL, the way the Indian companies and the government treated Pakistan cricket… after that, we can’t tolerate that IPL is shown in Pakistan,” Fawad Ahmed Chaudhry told a Pakistan news channel. (ALSO READ: ‘India should be ready to forfeit ICC World Cup final if they play against Pakistan’)
Chaudhry said that Pakistan was keen to keep sports away from politics, but they were forced to take the move due to the stance take by their Indian counterparts.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take appropriate action against the Indian team for wearing camouflage caps during the third ODI against Australia in Ranchi. Chaudhry alleged that India tried to politicise the sport by wearing army caps as a mark of protest to the Pulwama attack. (ALSO READ: I don’t think cricket should be targeted for political gains: Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed)
“We tried to keep politics and cricket apart but then the Indian cricket team played matches wearing army caps against Australia. There was no action taken against that. I feel if IPL is not shown in Pakistan it will be a loss for IPL and Indian cricket. We are a cricketing superpower in international cricket,” Chaudhry added.
