Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez on Monday slammed the Indian cricket board over the poor planning and organisation of the ICC World Cup 2023 which started on October 5 in Ahmedabad.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been facing flak from a major part of the cricketing fraternity over the host of issues surrounding the ODI World Cup, which is being hosted solely by India for the first time in its history.
From delay in releasing tickets, to high prices of tickets, poor condition of the stadium seats and constant changes in schedule before the tournament, fans and cricket pundits have come down hard on the BCCI over these issues.
Hafeez not happy with CWC 2023 organisers
Hafeez also joined the bandwagon of BCCI critics as he pointed out the various issues he's observed in the first week of the World Cup.
The ICC is the organiser of the event hosted by the BCCI.
“Overall World Cup we have seen in 4 days. Till now I have seen poor organization, poor planning from the organizers. Second, the biggest problem I have seen in this is that crowd response is not good.
"When you make a global tournament, you have to take your mind globally to make decisions. You can never make big decisions with small intentions," Hafeez said in a cricket show in Pakistan which also had former players Rashid Latif and Basit Khan in the panel.
Hafeez also brought up the issue of the poor condition of the outfield at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala and the denial of visas to Pakistani journalists and fans by the Indian government.
PCB chief discusses visa delays for Pakistanis with Foreign Secretary
Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board chief Zaka Ashraf held a meeting with Foreign Secretary Syrus Sajjad Qazi on Monday to address the ongoing delay in the issuance of visas to Pakistani fans and journalists who intend to cover the current World Cup in India.
Approximately 60 journalists are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to travel to India to cover the ODI spectacle.
"PCB is extremely disappointed to see that journalists from Pakistan and fans are still facing uncertainty about obtaining an Indian visa to cover Pakistan games in ICC World Cup 2023.
"In the meantime, PCB has again reminded ICC and BCCI of their respective obligations and terms and conditions stipulated in the Host agreement to guarantee visas for fans and journalists of participating teams," the statement said.
The visa application of Pakistani journalists needed to be vetted by home, external affairs and sports ministries as the country is on India's prior reference category (PRC) list.
