Published on : 17/09/2021 – 15:18
New Zealand announced on Friday the cancellation of a series of cricket matches scheduled for Islamabad. If the island country invokes security reasons, Pakistan ensures that all the conditions were met to ensure the smooth running of the tour.
Diplomatic battle in sight around cricket? New Zealand decided on Friday (September 17th) to cancel a series of matches scheduled for Islamabad, citing security reasons. For his part, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the former professional player Imran Khan, assures that everything had been implemented to ensure the safety of the players.
The New Zealand Cricket Federation “told us that it had been informed of a security risk and that it had decided to unilaterally postpone the series of matches,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement, published a few minutes after the time originally scheduled for the first match.
We have assured the NZ cricket board of the same. The Prime Minister spoke personally to the Prime Minister of New Zealand and informed her that we have one of the best Intelligence systems in the world and that no security threat of any kind exists for the visiting team.
2/4— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) September 17, 2021
The New Zealand cricket federation confirmed, for its part, the cancellation of its participation in the matches in an official statement published on its website.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke on the phone about this with his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern “a few hours ago and assured him that the New Zealand team have rock-solid security. Pakistani Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Twitter.
“According to the PCB, the New Zealand authorities were satisfied with the security arrangements in Pakistan” and considered that there was “no threat to the New Zealand team,” he added. “However, the New Zealand Prime Minister asked to postpone the meeting” out of caution.
This decision is a blow to Pakistan, deprived for years of international competition on its soil following the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team.
It could in particular call into question a tour of the England team scheduled for October which would have been the first in 16 years.
With AFP
.
