Report: Feyzan Lakhani. The International Cricket Council (ICC) says the return of players, coaches and support staff from some teams participating in the T20 World Cup has been delayed due to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and the disruption of international air travel.
According to the ICC statement, travel arrangements have been severely disrupted due to airspace closures, missile warnings, flight rerouting and sudden cancellations or resumptions of commercial and charter flights in the region. The ICC says all these factors are beyond its control, which has led to the delay in the return of the teams.
The ICC is in constant communication with airlines, charter operators, airport authorities and government agencies of various countries to ensure the speedy and safe return of the affected teams, a statement said.
According to the ICC, under current arrangements, the South African contingent will begin their return journey tonight and all members are expected to leave within the next 36 hours. Similarly, nine West Indies members have already left for the Caribbean, while the remaining 16 members will board flights from India in the next 24 hours.
The ICC clarified that these decisions are only intended to ensure the safety, travel facilities and welfare of the players and others. In the statement, it was said that such opinions spread on different media platforms are not true and it is said that there are all kinds of preferences and discrimination in travel routes and pictures.
The ICC says that the travel arrangements made for South Africa and the West Indies are not dependent on the arrangements previously made for England or any other team because the travel conditions and passengers for each team were different.
The ICC said no one would be sent until the journeys were made completely safe.
