Usman Khawaja has opened up about his “frustration” at the ICC’s rule which prevents him from wearing a “humanitarian message” of peace in reference to the war in Palestine.
Khawaja wore shoes with the slogans “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” at the Australian team’s training session on Tuesday and planned to wear them during the first Test against Pakistan.
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However, a Cricket Australia statement on Wednesday declared the Australian opener was expected to “uphold” the ICC’s rules which bans the display of personal messages.
Speaking ahead of the day’s play on Fox Cricket, Khawaja pointed to players who wore messages of support for other political movements but weren’t sanctioned and accused the ICC of double standards.
“I just think that so much has happened in the past that sets a precedent,” Khawaja said.
“I mean full support of Black Lives Matter. There’s plenty of guys have written on their shoes before.
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“Other guys that have religious things on their equipment, under the ICC guidelines that’s not technically allowed but the ICC never says anything on that.
“I find it a little disappointing that they came down hard on me but they don’t always come down hard on everyone else. That was probably the most frustrating part.
“But at the end of the day I can’t really do anything about it. All I can do is fight it in the appropriately and however I can.
“I’m not going to get emotional. There’s already enough emotion in this. I’m not doing this for any other reason than to spread the word and to speak for those who don’t have a voice.
“I always came in with good intentions and I’ll leave with good intentions.”
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Although many expressed their support for Khawaja’s message on his shoes, he was not immune to criticism on social media.
The 36-year-old described the reaction as “a little bit disappointing” but proclaimed he will “always stand up for what I believe in”.
“I don’t really see the controversy of ‘All lives matter’ and saying ‘Freedom is a human right,’” Khawaja said.
“I don’t see where it becomes political.
“For me, and this is my personal opinion, I find it hard to accept where people find what I said distasteful.
“No one’s ever going to agree with everyone and I accept that. But for me it makes me feel a little bit uneasy that people find those words uneasy.
“It hasn’t been just yesterday, it’s been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster the last couple of months.
“It is what it is. I’ll always stand up for what I believe in, even if people don’t agree with me or they don’t like me saying it. I want to look back on my career and say I stood up for my values, I respect what I did on the field but I also respect myself for what I did off the field.
“That for me at some level, probably at the most level, means more.”
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