The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has imposed a complete ban on future participation in the World Championship of Legends (WCL), citing political interference, biased decisions, and hypocrisy that, according to the board, undermined the spirit of sportsmanship.
In a statement following its Board of Governors (BoG) meeting chaired by Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB criticized the WCL for awarding points to a team that forfeited a match and for cancelling the high-profile Pakistan-India fixture under the pretext of player discomfort—actions the board described as politically driven and discriminatory.
The PCB condemned WCL’s press releases as hypocritical, pointing out the inconsistency in applying the “peace through sport” principle, and claimed that the tournament was manipulated to serve nationalistic and commercial agendas.
Emphasizing its long-standing stance on keeping politics out of sports, the PCB said legendary cricket tournaments should not be influenced by sentiments that compromise the values of fair play and neutrality.
While WCL issued an apology for “hurting sentiments,” the PCB dismissed it as insincere and noted that the reasoning behind the match cancellation lacked any real cricketing justification, instead reflecting a biased, one-sided approach.
Given what it described as a clear pattern of external influence and disregard for sporting fairness, the PCB stated it could no longer support participation in such tournaments.
Despite the controversy, the WCL concluded with South Africa defeating Pakistan in the final, led by AB de Villiers’ unbeaten century.
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