LAHORE (Dunya News) - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a complete withdrawal from the World Championship of Legends (WCL), citing the tournament’s “hypocrisy, bias, and disregard for sporting neutrality.”
The decision was made during the 79th PCB Board of Governors (BoG) meeting, chaired virtually by Mohsin Naqvi, after the WCL awarded points to a team that willfully forfeited and canceled the scheduled India vs Pakistan legends matches.
The PCB strongly criticized the tone and content of the WCL’s press releases, calling them “tainted with hypocrisy” and driven by political and commercial motives under the guise of “peace through sport.”
“The duality is clear—while claiming to promote peace, the WCL has allowed sporting events to become hostages to political expediency,” the PCB stated.
Read Also: Pak-India World Championship of Legends match cancelled
The board emphasized that cricket should remain independent of politics, serving only as a platform for goodwill, healthy competition, and mutual respect.
It noted that the WCL’s apology for “hurting sentiments” implicitly confirmed that the match cancellations were politically influenced rather than based on cricketing merit.
Calling the conduct “unacceptable for the future of independent sporting events,” the PCB declared that it will no longer allow Pakistani players to participate in any WCL editions where fair play and neutrality are compromised.
The board reaffirmed its commitment to promoting cricket globally and fostering healthy sporting rivalries, but warned that it cannot support events overshadowed by political bias that undermines the spirit of the gentleman’s game.
The virtual BoG meeting was attended by Sumair Ahmed Syed, Salman Naseer, Zaheer Abbas, Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Sajjad Ali Khokhar, Zafarullah Jadgal, Tanveer Ahmed, Tariq Sarwar, Muhammad Ismail Qureshi, Anwaar Ahmad Khan, Adnan Malik, Usman Wahla (special invitee), and Mir Hassan Naqvi (Additional Secretary).