- ICC downplays fears of terrorist threat to T20 World Cup
- The tournament is jointly organized by the West Indies and the United States.
- There were reports that Islamic State had encouraged attacks at the event.
The ICC has downplayed fears of a terrorist threat to next month’s T20 World Cup following reports that Islamic State has encouraged attacks at the tournament, which is being jointly hosted by the United States and the West Indies.
As reports of the threats circulated on social media, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley told Trinidad’s Daily Express: “Unfortunately, the threat of terrorism in its many and varied expressions is an ever-present danger in the world of the 21st century.
‘Since bad actors can choose to behave badly in any way possible, it makes it virtually impossible to completely seal all opportunities.
“However, to mitigate these dangers, at local and regional levels we have remained alert to many threats and, individually or together, we have our intelligence and other security agencies working to protect the population in the countries and in the venues throughout the tournament”.
England will play all their matches in the Caribbean, starting on June 4, visiting Barbados, Antigua and, assuming they qualify for the Super Eight stage, Saint Lucia and possibly Saint Vincent. The semi-finals will be held in Trinidad and Guyana and the final in Barbados.
The ICC has played down fears of a terrorist threat for next month’s T20 World Cup.
Keith Rowley (R), the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, said the danger was always present.
The ICC and Cricket West Indies did not confirm that the threat had emanated from the Islamic State, whose propaganda channel, Nashir-e Pakistan, had encouraged attacks on sporting events.
But in a joint statement, the ICC and CWI said: “We work closely with authorities in host countries and cities, and continually monitor and evaluate the global landscape to ensure appropriate plans are in place to mitigate any identified risks to our event.”
“We want to assure all stakeholders that the safety of everyone at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is our number one priority and we have a comprehensive and robust safety plan in place.”
The ECB declined to comment.