New Delhi, July 10, 2023.
The minister in-charge of sports in Pakistan, Ehsaan Mazari, has said that if India avoids travelling across the border for the Asia Cup, his country will withdraw from the 2023 World Cup in India.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Mazari said, “My personal opinion, since the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) comes under my ministry, is that if India demands to play their Asia Cup games at a neutral venue, we would also demand the same for our World Cup games in India.”
The statement came a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a high-profile committee to dwell on the issue of the country’s participation in the October-November World Cup that India is hosting. Sharing the mandate of the committee Mazari said, “The committee will be headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and I am among the 11 ministers who are part of it. We will discuss the issue and give our recommendations to the PM, who is also the patron-in-chief of PCB. The PM will take the final decision.”