Usman Khawaja
of
Australia
has reportedly been denied permission to display a peace symbol on his bat and shoes for the Boxing Day Test against
Pakistan
, as per reports on Sunday.
During training in Melbourne on Sunday, a sticker featuring a black dove and the words '01:UDHR,' referencing Article One of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was affixed to his bat and shoes.
Despite multiple meetings with Cricket Australia in recent days to find an appropriate message for the second Test, Khawaja's latest humanitarian gesture was rejected by the International Cricket Committee (
ICC
), as reported by The Australian and Melbourne Age newspapers.
The ICC has not provided an immediate comment on the matter.
Khawaja, a Muslim, had previously been prohibited from wearing shoes with hand-written slogans supporting human rights during the first Test in Perth.
The slogans, 'Freedom is a human right' and 'All lives are equal,' were disallowed by the ICC due to rules on messages related to politics, religion or race.
During the first Test, Khawaja wore a black armband, claiming it was for personal bereavement, but he was reprimanded by the ICC. He vowed to contest the ruling.
(AFP Photo)
On Friday, Khawaja spoke about how the Israel-Hamas conflict had deeply affected him, expressing despair at the number of children killed.
"When I'm looking at my Instagram and seeing innocent kids, videos of them dying, passing away, that's what hit me the hardest," he said.
"I don't have any agendas other than trying to shine a light on what I feel really passionately, really strongly about."
English (US) ·