Australia vs Pakistan: Usman Khawaja wears black armband in support of Palestine

Australian Test cricketer Usman Khawaja seemingly showed his support and solidarity with people of Palestine by wearing a black armband in the first Test against Pakistan at Perth Stadium on Thursday.

Khawaja had already created quite a stir when he was spotted wearing pro-Palestine shoes during the training session ahead of the Test series opener.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), the governing body for the sport, disapproved Khawaja’s request to wear pro-Palestine shoes with slogans “All Lives Are Equal” and “Freedom Is A Human Right” on them. After the strict reminder of the rule, Khawaja told skipper Pat Cummins he would not be wearing the shoes.

Later, in a social media video, the Australian opener vowed to fight against ICC guidelines to wear the shoes.

What do the ICC rules say?

According to ICC Code of Conduct, players and team officials are strictly prohibited from wearing, displaying or any conveying messages through armbands or other items affixed to clothing or equipment unless prior approval by ICC.

“Any clothing or equipment that does not comply with these regulations is strictly prohibited,” ICC’s regulations state. “In particular, no logo shall be permitted to be displayed on cricket clothing or cricket equipment, other than a national logo, a commercial logo, an event logo, a manufacturer’s logo, a player’s bat logo, a charity logo or a non-commercial logo as provided in these regulations.

“In addition, where any match official becomes aware of any clothing or equipment that does not comply with these regulations, he shall be authorised to prevent the offending person from taking the field of play (or to order them from the field of play, if appropriate) until the non-compliant clothing or equipment is removed or appropriately covered up.”

Who said what?

Before the Test, Cummins confirmed Khawaja won’t be wearing the shoes. “I spoke to him just quickly and he said he won’t be,” Cummins said on Wednesday. “Just kind of drew attention to the ICC rules, which I don’t know if Uzzie (Khawaja) was across beforehand. Uzzie doesn’t want to make too big of a fuss.”

Khawaja had recently shared a video a video on Instagram from UNICEF from Gaza.

In his post, he wrote: “Do people not care about innocent humans being killed?

“Or is it the colour of their skin that makes them less important? Or the religion they practise?

“These things should be irrelevant if you truly believe that ‘we are all equal’.”

Khawaja has already violated the ICC Code of Conduct by wearing the black armband.

What did Khawaja say in the social media video?

In the emotional video, Khawaja said he is ready to “fight” ICC regulations and “seek to gain approval” for sporting the messages.

“I’ve noticed what I’ve written on my shoes has caused a little bit of a stir. I won’t say much, I don’t need to. But what I do want is for everyone who did get offended, somehow, is to ask yourself these questions,” he said in a video posted on Instagram.

“Is freedom not for everyone? Are all lives not equal?

“To me personally, it doesn’t matter what race, religion or culture you are.

“Let’s be honest about it. If me saying all lives are equal as a resulted people being offended, to the point where they’re calling me up, and telling me, well isn’t that the bigger problem?

“These people obviously don’t believe in what I’ve written. It’s not just a handful of people. You’d be shocked about how many feel this way.

What I’ve written on my shoes isn’t political. I’m not taking sides. Human life to me is equal. One Jewish life is equal to one Muslim life is equal to one Hindu life and so on. I’m just speaking up for those who don’t have a voice.

“This is close to my heart. When I see thousands of innocent children dying, without any repercussions, or remorse, I imagined my two girls. What if this was them?

“No one chooses where they’re born. And then I see the world turn their backs on them. My heart can’t take it.

“I already feel my life wasn’t equal to others when I was growing up. But luckily for me, I never lived in a world where that lack of equality was life or death.

“The ICC have told me that I can’t wear my shoes on field because they believe it’s a political statement under their guidelines. I don’t believe it is so – it’s a humanitarian appeal.

“I will respect their view and decision but I will fight it and seek to gain approval.

“Freedom is a human right. And all lives are equal. I will never stop believing that, whether you agree with me or not,” said Khawaja.