PCB demands an apology from the Afghanistan Cricket Board

What's the story?

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has demanded an apology from the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) for the latter's response post the Kabul bomb blast on May 31. The explosion in the capital city of Afghanistan caused more than 80 deaths and left over 500 people injured. Due to this unfortunate incident, ACB made strong statements against Pakistan and that led to an unpleasant relationship between the two boards.

Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of PCB, clearly stated that the relationship between the two bodies will be revived only if ACB apologises for the statements that it has made. He said, "One day, their chairman met me and was very positive about having good relations. But next day he gave an extremely political statement about Pakistan, so then we told them that we don't have anything to do with you."

He also said that Atif Mashal, the chairman of ACB, apologised to him in private but that was not enough to compensate for the statements that the former made. "He later did express his regret on making the statement and had also apologised privately. But we, the board, have taken a position that until they apologise in public, we should not be reviving any cricketing ties with them," added Khan.

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Soon after the blast, ACB tweeted that it will cancel all the existing ties with the PCB and went on to blame Pakistan for the blast. It also stated that there is no validity of an agreement in a nation "where terrorists are housed and provided a safe haven".

This did not go down very well with the PCB. They lashed out at ACB for the baseless allegations. PCB also revoked all its ties with Afghanistan and since then, it has been waiting for Afghanistan to apologise before restoring the relationship that the two Boards shared prior to the bomb blast.

The details

Right before the blast in Kabul, Mashal led a delegation that met Shaharyar and his team. PCB proposed to aid Afghanistan Cricket's rise in the international forum by providing them training facilities. The two Boards also agreed for friendly matches to boost the game in both the countries.

However, right after the blast, ACB changed its stance and decided to call off all the arrangements with PCB. The latter felt that it was an unjust step on ACB's behalf and sought an apology. Now, PCB is determined that it will not hold any relations with their Aghan counterpart until a formal apology is made in public.

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What's next?

It cannot be confirmed that ACB will apologise for the statements made against Pakistan in the past. However, if they do so, the relations between the Cricket Boards of the two countries will revive soon.

Author's take

It is unfair on the part of any third party to comment on a sensitive issue like this. Here, the situation extends beyond the sport as it includes the security and political relations between two nations. The only hope that lies in this situation is that the passion for Cricket in both the countries will unite the two Boards and restore the peaceful relations between the two.

As far as an apology from ACB is concerned, one cannot force them to change their stance on an issue that impacts the security of their country. They are entitled to hold any opinion based on the shreds of evidence that they might have received. Having said that, it will now be interesting to see the choice that ACB will make amidst this chaos.