Unnamed aircrafts flew over the Headingley stadium with anti-India banners during the World Cup match between India and Sri Lanka.
The incident has prompted the BCCI to file a written complaint with the ICC, raising concerns about the security of their players.
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Minutes after the match began, an aircraft carrying the banner “Justice for Kashmir” flew above the ground. After half an hour, a similar looking aircraft flew over the stadium with a different banner –” India Stop Genocide, Free Kashmir”.
Midway into India’s run chase, a third aircraft was also seen with a banner –” Help End Mob Lynching”.
The BCCI in its complaint has said that “This is completely unacceptable. We have written to the ICC, raising our concern about what happened in Headingley today. If this kind of incident is repeated in the semi-finals, it will be really unfortunate. Safety and security of our players is paramount,” a senior BCCI official, who is privy to the development told PTI.
The ICC has zero tolerance for political or racist slogans and expressed their disappointment at another security breach. “We are incredibly disappointed this has happened again. We do not condone any sort of political messages at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup,” the ICC said in a statement. Yorkshire, in the north of England, is known for having a sizable Pakistan population with Bradford being their ghetto.