A Pakistani sports presenter covering the Cricket World Cup in India left the host nation for “personal reasons”, the sport’s ruling body said, days after a lawyer complained to police that she had criticised the country.
Zainab Abbas was due to present for the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) own digital coverage of the tournament, which began last week.
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An Indian lawyer said he had filed a complaint to authorities against her for hurting Hindu sentiments and making anti-India statements.
Vineet Jindal took to X, previously known as Twitter, and flagged posts allegedly made by Abbas almost a decade ago in which she said New Delhi smelled like “cow piss”.
A report in the English daily Deccan Chronicle quoted sources as saying the presenter was given deportation orders on Sunday.
“Zainab has not been deported, she has left for personal reasons,” an ICC spokesperson said late Monday.
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It was not clear whether Abbas had yet landed back in Pakistan.
Most Pakistani journalists who have sought to cover the tournament have yet to receive visas.
Fans too have been frustrated in their desire to cross the border to support their team.
The delays have left the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) “extremely disappointed” and have requested Pakistan foreign secretary Syrus Sajjad Qazi to flag the matter with India’s home ministry.
“The PCB is extremely disappointed to see that journalists from Pakistan and fans are still facing uncertainty about obtaining an Indian visa,” a statement from the PCB said.
The PCB also reminded the ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of “their respective obligations and terms and conditions stipulated in the host agreement to guarantee visas for fans and journalists of participating teams.”
India and Pakistan are bitter adversaries with longstanding political tensions — their teams only play cricket against each other in international tournaments — and Hindu nationalism sentiment has risen in India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
In fact, the two nations will meet as soon as October 14th in the World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with play scheduled to commence at 7:30pm AEDT.
