Pakistan’s cricket chief insisted Wednesday that his country is safe enough to host international matches, saying the current tour by lowly-ranked Afghanistan sends a positive message to the world.
“We want to send a message to the world that Pakistan is a safe place to play cricket and the people of Pakistan would welcome any team coming here,”said Ijaz Butt in a message at the start of Afghan series.
Sri Lanka Tuesday refused to tour Pakistan later this year, saying security was still a problem.
The Sri Lankan team were attacked in Lahore two years ago. The assault left eight people dead and wounded seven visiting players and their assistant coach.
Since then international cricket has been suspended in Pakistan and the March 2009 attacks forced to the International Cricket Council to relocate World Cup 2011 matches out of the troubled country.
Militant unrest, much of it in the form of suicide attacks, has killed nearly 4,400 people in the past four years as the Taliban and militants linked to al Qaeda wage a bloody onslaught on Pakistan’s US-allied leadership.
Dawn News
My MMV
Pakistan can't guarantee the safety of it's own people, there was a terrorism attack on Karachi Naval base on the weekend and then yesterday suicide bomber hit Peshawar but Mr. Butt wants the International cricket teams to visit Pakistan. This a great tragedy for the cricket fans who have been deprived of their favorite spot. Like many Mr. Butt is out of touch with the reality.
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