The International Cricket Council (ICC) might not take any action against the complaints registered by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) regarding the crowd mishap in Ahmedabad during the India vs Pakistan match. During the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match between the two teams, there were several incidents of religious chanting against the Pakistani players, which miffed the side/
The boorish crowd behaviour might not result in further investigation as the ambit of the anti-discrimination code is restricted to individuals and does not cover groups. Since there were no singular perpetrators in question regarding the incident, an insider source from BCCI said PTI that there would be no action against it.
The highly-anticipated India vs Pakistan clash in Ahmedabad turned out to be a one-sided affair, with the hosts India steamrolling past Pakistan by seven wickets. The stadium was painted blue with over 100,000 spectators entering the premises as India registered their third victory on the trot in the ongoing World Cup.
The percentage of the Pakistani crowd in Ahmedabad, however, was nearly non-existent as fans faced visa issues.
Mickey Arthur criticises World Cup atmosphere after India’s convincing win over Pakistan
The air of one-sidedness was evident right from the beginning when the Ahmedabad crowd started booing the Pakistani skipper Babar Azam at the toss. A section of fans had troubled Mohammad Rizwan with religious chants when the wicket-keeper batter was walking back to the pavilion following his dismissal, forcing the PCB to lodge a complaint with the game's governing body. According to reports, Hassan Ali too faced taunts about his religion during the game.
Mickey Arthur criticised crowd after India vs Pakistan match
After the match, Pakistan’s Director of Cricket Mickey Arthur was also left frustrated with how one-sided the affair was with respect to the organisation. He went on to add that the game felt like a bilateral BCCI event, not an ICC event, looking at how only Indian fans were present at the venue.
The unnamed BCCI source has confirmed that ICC has taken cognisance of the matter and is ascertaining its nature and the process it might follow.
“The ICC takes every complaint very seriously but code is about individuals. I don't know what exactly is PCB looking at but it will be very difficult to take any tangible action,” a veteran official, who has worked in both BCCI and ICC told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
PCB's complaint about “inappropriate behaviour” needs to be seen in relative light.
“The ICC may identify individuals if there are charges of racism but if thousands of people are shouting a slogan, what can you do? No player was injured by any ‘missile' hurled from the gallery. A partisan crowd is expected. That's the pressure of elite sport,” he added.
The ICC exhibits its stand on racism and zero tolerance policy through billboards during its events, as a part of standard protocol. However, the partisanship on display during the India vs Pakistan encounter might not lead to any sanctions the way we see in European football.
In Spain, repeated incidents of racist slurs and chants against footballers led to La Liga going forward with plenty of matches without spectators. Brazilian footballer Vinicius Junior's case saw collective chants of racism against the player The governing body of football in the country had sanctioned partial closure of a stand at Valencia's home ground Mestalla Stadium for five games and a fine of 45,000 euros was imposed on the club.
