Playing cricket in Pakistan still remains ‘unmanageable’: FICA

Tony Irish, the Chief Executive of FICA has revealed that traveling to Pakistan remains to be a massive risk even to this day. Pakistan has been rather isolated when it comes to international cricket being played in the country following those devastating events that took place all those years ago in 2009 involving the Taliban and the Sri Lankan cricket team.

The PCB has been in talks with a few stakeholders in recent times as well as overseas players about playing the PSL finals in Lahore. In late 2015, Pakistan had hosted the Zimbabwe cricket team in a bevy of three ODI matches, the first piece of international cricket to be played in the country since 2009.

“The consistent advice we have received from independent security consultants over the last few years is that playing cricket in Pakistan for foreign teams and players constitutes an unacceptably high-security risk,” Tony Irish, the FICA chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo. “Although we are sure that PSL and PCB would do their very best to implement security plans, the advice of our consultants is also that this risk is unmanageable in the current environment.

Irish also went on to add, “FICA has a duty to relay that advice to players and, given that players are participating as individuals in PSL and they are not participating as part of a touring foreign team, it will be up to each individual player to decide whether or not to take that advice.”

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The Chief Executive of the FICA went on to show sympathy for the cricket enthusiasts in the county, “We understand how much people want to see foreign teams and players playing in Pakistan and therefore sympathize with cricket lovers and fans in the country. We hope that normal cricket will return to Pakistan as soon as it is safe to play there.”

“There is a clause, but several international players have made their participation subject to security advice at the time and they cannot be compelled to go,” one agent said.

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