What’s the story?
The International Cricket Council has called for an emergency conference call to discuss the security measures ahead of the Champions Trophy in England in the wake of the recent terror attack in Manchester.
The governing body said that it will look into the security and safety measures that have been put in place for the eight-team tournament set to begin on June 1.
“The ICC is concerned with what has happened in Manchester and will have a conference call later in the day with stakeholders joining from various places,” an ICC source said, as reported by the New Indian Express.
The attacks have put some clouds of concern over the future of the tournament and whether it will be safe for the players to go to the UK would surely be a question to be asked.
In case you didn’t know...
The Manchester arena was struck by a deadly terror attack on Monday night when a music concert performed by Ariana Grande, an American singer, was attacked by a suicide bomber. 22 people were killed and about 50 others were injured during the attack.
The Manchester Police have reported that the male suicide bomber was the only one behind the attack even as it has been touted to be the worst terror attack in Britain in a decade.
Details
The eight-team tournament would involve the top eight ODI teams according to the ICC ODI Rankings as of September 30, 2016 – which was the cut-off date for qualifying – and would see Bangladesh participating in the tournament for the first time since 2004.
An ICC release on its Media Twitter handle read, “We operate on advice from our Tournament Security Directorate - in conjunction with the ECB and relevant authorities - to ensure that we have a robust safety and security plan for both tournaments.
“We will continue to work with authorities over the coming hours and days and review our security in line with the threat levels.”
India have named a strong 15-man squad for the tournament to be led by Virat Kohli, and the team is slated to leave for the United Kingdom soon.
Author’s take
The safety and security of the cricketers are of prime importance anywhere in the world and all steps that are necessary in order to ensure the same must be taken. Previous instances of the security of cricketers being jeopardized through terror attacks have led to long-term implications.
In 2006, a team bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team from the hotel to the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, was attacked by gunmen resulting in injuries to several Sri Lanka cricketers.
International cricket has, since that incident, been absent from Pakistan – barring a short tour by Zimbabwe in 2015 – and international teams still consider Pakistan as a dangerous territory to play cricket in.
In order to prevent such an incident from recurring, appropriate protocols must be followed in terms of beefing up the security for players, especially for an ICC tournament as big as the Champions Trophy.
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