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[Saba Sports News] Before the start of the Australia vs Pakistan Test series, Australian opener Usman Khawaja’s plan to wear shoes bearing messages supporting Gaza during the Perth Test from December 14 stirred controversy. His shoes, showcasing “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right,” were seen in a practice session.
However, due to ICC regulations, Khawaja decided against wearing them, as confirmed by Australian captain Pat Cummins. Cummins expressed his support for Khawaja’s views, noting the non-divisive nature of the message. He mentioned that Khawaja wasn’t looking to create a fuss but simply express his beliefs.
“I spoke to him just quickly and [Khawaja] said he won’t be [wearing the statements]. It kind of drew the attention to the ICC rules which I don’t know if Uzzie was across beforehand. Uzzie doesn’t want to make too big of a fuss. On his shoes he had ‘all lives are equal’. I think that’s not very divisive. I don’t think anyone can really have too many complaints about that,” Cummins shared.
Khawaja later defended his actions in a video message, clarifying his stance as humanitarian rather than political, and respecting the ICC’s decision. He vowed to continue advocating for those without a voice while seeking approval for his message.
The ICC maintains strict rules against political messages on clothing or equipment during matches, allowing only board or ICC-approved messages. Cricket Australia backed Khawaja’s right to personal opinions but emphasized compliance with ICC rules.
“We support the right of our players to express personal opinions. But the ICC has rules in place which prohibit the display of personal messages which we expect the players to uphold,” released CA in a statement.
This incident isn’t unique in cricket history. England’s Moeen Ali in 2014 and India’s MS Dhoni in 2019 faced similar situations with their politically-themed accessories, both complying with ICC requests to remove them.