Moeen Ali has been banned from wearing “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” wristbands in the remainder of the third Test against India by the International Cricket Board’s (ICC) match referee.
David Boon, the former Australia batsman who is the ICC’s match referee banned the Birmingham born Muslim from wearing the wristbands highlighting the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.
England Cricket Board (ECB) had cleared Moeen to wear the bands, arguing that he was making a humanitarian statement and not a political one, and perhaps sensitive to accusations of inconsistency as the whole team will wear the logo of the Help for Heroes charity on their shirts on Tuesday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the first world war.
But the ICC issued the following statement on Tuesday morning: “The ICC equipment and clothing regulations do not permit the display of messages that relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes during an international match.
“Moeen Ali was told by the match referee that while he is free to express his views on such causes away from the cricket field, he is not permitted to wear the wristbands on the field of play and warned not to wear the bands again during an international match.”
More 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and 6,500 injured since Israel’s Operation Protective Edge.
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