ICC 'Threaten Sanctions' Against T20 World Cup Nation Amid Boycott Suggestions
The ICC is 'unhappy' with a nation following their boycott suggestions after Bangladesh were removed from the upcoming T20 World Cup.
The T20 World Cup gets underway on February 7 and will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
The teams were all set until Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland at the last-minute.
Bangladesh asked the ICC on multiple occasions for their Group C games to be moved to Sri Lanka due to security concerns amid ongoing political tensions between them and India.
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The ICC rejected Bangladesh's requests, claiming there was 'no credible or verifiable security threat' in a statement.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) indicated the country's government had not given permission to travel to India for the T20 World Cup.
An emergency meeting was held on Wednesday, with the ICC expelling Bangladesh from the competition despite their complaints.
As the highest-ranked T20 nation not to have originally qualified, Scotland replaced Bangladesh, joining England, Italy, Nepal and West Indies in Group C.
Amid Bangladesh being thrown out of the tournament by the ICC, Pakistan's participation has been thrown into doubt, with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) exploring various protest options, including a potential boycott of their match against India on February 15 in Colombo.
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said a final decision would be made after talking to their government as he accused the ICC of 'double standards' and described what happened to Bangladesh as 'an injustice'.
"Bangladesh has been treated unfairly. One country can make any decision whenever, while it is the opposite for another. Bangladesh is a major stakeholder and this injustice should not happen," he told reporters.
"Bangladesh is a full ICC member like Pakistan. If a similar favour has been extended to Pakistan and India, the same should apply to Bangladesh. One country cannot dictate terms to another."
His comments have not gone down well with the ICC, who are reportedly unhappy at his support of Bangladesh.
According to the India Express, if Pakistan follow through on their plans of a boycott, then the ICC could impose a series of sanctions, which include suspension of all bilateral series, denial of No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for foreign players in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and exclusion from the Asia Cup.
Pakistan's fixture against the Netherlands on February 7 is set to kick off the T20 World Cup.
SPORTbible has reached out to the ICC for comment.
Topics: Cricket
Nasir Jabbar