T20 World Cup | Pakistan-based extremist group issues threat to West Indies cricket board: Report

T20 World Cup 2024 (Pic: File Pic)

The T20 World Cup 2024 which will be hosted by the USA and the West Indies has received a terror threat. Trinidad's Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has asserted that "extra effort in national security preparations and response readiness" will be taken in to neutralise the danger ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024.

The mega event consisting of 20 teams including India will be in action on June 1. According to media reports, the threat is only to the West Indies. The WI will be hosting the entire Super 8 stage and also the semi-finals and finals on June 29.

"Unfortunately, the threat of terrorism in its many and varied expressions is an ever-present danger in the world of the 21st century," Rowley was quoted as saying by 'Trinidad Daily Express' here.

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Rowley did not mention the name of the organisation but reports stated that the Islamic State made the threat through their propaganda channel.

"It is against this backdrop that all nations, like our region, when hosting large or vulnerable gatherings, make an extra effort in national security preparations and response readiness to take seriously, all threats, expressed or implied," he added.

Rowley said the event, which is scattered across nine venues, six of them in the West Indies, will be closely monitored throughout its duration to ensure there is no security breach.

"Given the fact that bad actors can choose to misbehave in any way possible, it makes it virtually impossible to completely seal off all opportunities," he said.

"However, in order to ameliorate these dangers, we at the local and regional levels have remained alert to many threats and singularly or together have our intelligence and other security agencies working to protect the population in countries and at venues throughout the tournament," he added.

The T20 World Cup 2024 matches in the West Indies will be held in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago. The US leg will feature games in Florida, New York and Texas. The biggest game of the mega event, India vs Pakistan will be played on June 9.

Following the situation, Cricket West Indies said everything will be taken care of to ensure full security at the T20 World Cup 2024. "We work closely with authorities in the host countries and cities, and continually monitor and evaluate the global landscape to ensure appropriate plans are in place to mitigate any risks identified to our event," CWI CEO Jonny Graves told 'Cricbuzz'.

"We want to assure all stakeholders that safety and security of everyone at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup is our number one priority and we have a comprehensive and robust security plan in place," he added.

When the ICC was contacted for a response, its representatives said that their stand is similar to CWI.

(With PTI Inputs)