India's clout leading to double standards, feels Pakistan board
India's clout leading to double standards, feels Pakistan board
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Pakistan's cricket authorities had also raised reservations with the International Cricket Council (ICC) over the 'whereabouts' clause in the anti-doping code of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), but were told point blank their players had to sign the clause.
In a big example of how much clout the Indian cricket board exerts in world cricket, a Pakistan Cricket Board official admitted that even they had had reservations over the 'whereabouts' clause and had to convince their players to sign the WADA document.
"We had raised this issue with the ICC because some of our players also felt the contentious 'whereabouts' clause made it difficult for them to reveal their locations and plans for the next three months. The PCB felt the same," said the official who declined to be named.
"But the ICC told us there wasu00a0 nothing they could do and the players had to sign the WADA code with the clause included in it as this was necessary to make anti-doping measures of the ICC more creditable and foolproof as per WADA requirements," the official said.
Penalty threat
He said the PCB then informed the players that they could face penalties if they didn't sign the code. "The players were told they had to sign with the 'whereabouts' clause and it was mandatory. We also assured them the board was there to take care of any untoward incident as a result of signing the code," the official said.
He said all players including captain Younis Khan and senior bowler Shoaib Akhtar signed the WADA code which is effective this year.
In contrast, the Indian board has backed its players and asked the ICC to renegotiate the clause as their players had security concerns about revealing their location for three months, as mandated by the 'whereabouts' norm in the amended anti-doping code.
The Indian board called the clause, "unreasonable" and a "violation of privacy".
Former Test captain Rashid Latif said the fuss being created over the 'whereabouts' clause by the Indian players and board showed how much India was controlling world cricket.
Special treatment
"The ICC didn't bother to listen to our reservations but when India does the same, and their players refuse to sign, the ICC sends its representatives down to India for negotiations with the Indian board. It shows the ICC has separate policies for India and the rest of the cricketing world," Latif told MiD-DAY.
However, Colonel Zulfiqar, a former security expert with the PCB, said he could understand the Indian players' apprehensions about giving out information for the next three months. "It does raise security concerns in today's world.
"The ICC and WADA will have to be very careful not to reveal details to anyone," he said.
The contentious clause is likely to lead to another stand-off between India and ICC as the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) made it clear if the ICC didn't penalise India's players for failing to submit to the new anti-doping norms in time, it would ensure that players from all other countries would be relieved from similar obligations.
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