Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has said that he will not wear a black armband during the Test match against Pakistan at the MCG. Instead, he intends to contest the charge laid against him by the International Cricket Council.
Khawaja received a reprimand from the ICC for donning a black armband during the first Test against Pakistan in Perth. Australia emerged victorious with a convincing 360-run win. It is important to highlight that the ICC's reprimand does not come with any financial or playing consequences.
“The ICC asked me day two (of the Perth Test) what (the black armband) was for, I told them it was for a personal bereavement. I never ever stated it was for anything else,” Khawaja told reporters on Friday. “I respect the ICC and all the regulations they have, I will be asking them and contesting them… From my point of view, that consistency hasn’t been done yet. The shoes were for a different matter, I’m happy to say that, but the armband (reprimand) made no sense to me.”
Khawaja had intended to wear cricketing shoes adorned with the phrases “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” for the initial Test. These messages were a display of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. He had exhibited these inscriptions during a practice session prior to the Test match.
But, Cricket Australia and the ICC had contacted him to caution against what they considered a political statement. Consequently, Khawaja decided against displaying the messages on his footwear but opted to wear a black armband instead.
“I followed all the regulations and past precedents – guys have put stickers on their bats, names on their shoes, done all sorts of things in the past without ICC approval and never been reprimanded.”
The ICC's regulations prohibit players from exhibiting messages supporting political, religious, or racial causes during international matches. Nonetheless, the ICC permits cricketers to sport black armbands in remembrance of the passing of former players, family members, or other notable individuals, given that they obtain prior permission from the ICC.
“I don’t have any agendas other than trying to shine a light on what I feel really passionately, really strong about. I’m trying to do it in the most respectful way as possible,” said Khawaja about the messages he planned ot sport on his shoes," he maintained.
“What I wrote on my shoes was, really I thought about it for a while, what I was going to write. I made sure that I didn’t want to segregate different parts of the population, religious beliefs, communities. That’s why I kept religion out of this. I want to be really broad over my speaking because I’m talking about humanitarian issues. I’m talking about article one of Unified Declaration of Human Rights. That is literally the crux of it,” he added.
“The reason I’m doing it is because it hit me hard. I told Nick Hockley (Cricket Australia chief) literally just this morning that when I’m looking at my Instagram and I’m seeing kids, innocent kinds, videos of them dying, passing away, that’s what hit me the hardest. I just imagine my young daughter in my arms and the same thing. I get emotional talking about it right now again. And for me, that’s the reason I’m doing this. I don’t have any hidden agendas."
“If anything, you know, if anything, this brings up more negativity towards me. People come and start attacking me. I don’t get anything out of this. I just feel like it’s my responsibility to speak up on this,” he concluded.
