PCB imposes a blanket ban on its players' participation in WCL

On Sunday, August 3, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued a blanket ban on its players’ participation in the World Championship of Legends (WCL), accusing the owners of the league of hypocrisy, bias.

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Notably, India Champions, led by Yuvraj Singh, pulled out of the league game and semi-final against Pakistan Champions in the two scheduled matches in the second season of the WCL 2025 season, a privately organised T20 league in the United Kingdom, citing the geopolitical situation between both countries.

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).

“The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announces that it is issuing a blanket ban from future participation in the World Championship of Legends (WCL),” the PCB statement read.

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The PCB, during its 79th BoG meeting held virtually under the chairmanship of Mohsin Naqvi reviewed with considerable disappointment WCL’s appalling conduct of awarding points to a willfully forfeiting team, and the content of the press releases of the WCL announcing the cancellation of the scheduled India vs. Pakistan legends matches, which were tainted with hypocrisy and bias,” it read.

“The contents of the said press releases highlight a duality where the narrative of “peace through sport” is selectively applied and sporting events are held hostage to political expediency and narrow commercial interests,” the statement further added.

“The WCL’s apology for "hurting the sentiments", whilst being farcical, inadvertently acknowledges that the cancellation was not based on cricketing merit, but rather on succumbing to a specific nationalistic narrative. This bias, masquerading as sensitivity, sends an unacceptable message to the international sporting community.”

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“In light of this unfortunate development, which underscores a clear and intolerable pattern of external influence and a disregard for the principles of sporting neutrality, the Pakistan Cricket Board is compelled to take a firm stance. The PCB can no longer condone participation in an event where the fundamental principles of fair play and unbiased administration are compromised by external pressures,” it read.

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