The Usman Khawaja ‘all lives are equal’ saga continues, and former West Indian cricketer Michael Holding is the latest to give his opinion on the matter. The fast bowler criticized the International Cricket Council (ICC) and said he was “not surprised” by the stance they took.
“The ICC regulations stipulate that consent to return messages may not be granted for messages relating to political, religious or racial activities or issues,” Holding said. “So how come fucking people were allowed to kneel for BLM (Black Lives Matter), and had their tree trunks covered in LGBTQ colors?” Speaking to The Weekend Australia, Holding said.
The Australian opener, who was not approved to wear shoes bearing the text, ‘All Lives Are Equal’ for the Perth Test, trained at the MCG nets on Sunday wearing shoes bearing the aforementioned slogan.
Al-Khawaja also had a similar sticker on his racket referring to Article 1 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 must treat each other in a spirit of brotherhood.
Held also criticized the International Criminal Court for not taking a clear position on this issue. “If it had been most other organizations that had shown some consistency in their positions and behavior on issues, I would have considered it surprising, but not them. Once again, they are demonstrating their hypocrisy and lack of moral standing as an organization.”
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Khawaja examined the logo with both Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association and received no objection from either body, but a rejection of his application arrived from the ICC on Sunday morning.
On Sunday, Khawaja was again banned from delivering a humanitarian message – this time, a black dove carrying an olive branch on his bat and shoes in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza – by the ICC ahead of Australia’s Boxing Day Test in Melbourne against Pakistan. .
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First published on: 12-24-2023 at 19:10 IST