Afghan Conduct Post Asia Cup Rout Divides Pakistani Twitter

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2022-09-08T21:55:44+05:00 News Desk
Reported instances of Afghan hooliganism following Pakistan's one-wicket win in Wednesday's Asia Cup match against Afghanistan in Sharjah has left netizens sharply divided. While many censured the conduct of Afghan fans, others urged Pakistanis to introspect.

Videos featuring footage of Afghan fans vandalising the stadium and attacking Pakistanis are being circulated on social media.

Sharing a video of the incident, former Pakistan bowler Shoaib Akhtar on Thursday said in a tweet that Afghan fans have done this in the past multiple times. He added that cricket was supposed to be played and taken in the right spirit.



Writer Shama Junejo urged the Abu Dhabi police to arrest Afghan fans who attacked Pakistan's supporters. She asked them to be made an example so that no one could ever dare to attack in future.



Bilal, a Twitter user, said the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) should ban Afghan fans from entering cricket stadiums.



Responding to a tweet 'making sense' of Afghan aggression,  Uzair Younus said "Pakistanis and Indians" should attack British cricket spectators given how the English the colonists had looted India.

https://twitter.com/UzairYounus/status/1567688913476632576?s=20&t=gVcteyrfMFJd4xuW0Vsqmg

Some, on the other hand, urged Pakistanis to introspect.

MNA Mohsin Dawar said using the pretext of a cricket match to hurl racist abuse at Afghans was "peak shamelessness". He said Pakistan's decades-old Afghanistan policy had stoked such a response. The MNA concluded his tweet by urging Pakistanis to "introspect".

https://twitter.com/mjdawar/status/1567625990939021314?s=20&t=zg4ffIbVu1lQPLyU04qtUQ

While author Ayesha Siddiqa categorically stated that such conduct must not be "condoned", the scholar emphasised how Afghans must have felt about the treatment meted out to them since 1975.

https://twitter.com/iamthedrifter/status/1567641598749458433?s=20&t=_BWHaWJ8mFD4W-jvHomm8Q

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reportedly decided to take the matter to the International Cricket Council. Chairman Ramiz Raja said hooliganism was not something that was identified with cricket. He said "unpleasant visuals" vitiated the atmosphere need to conduct a good game (of cricket).

"Anything could have happened. The safety of our team could have been compromised, a protest will be lodged." We will make the ICC cognisant  of our "anguish and frustration" over the "deluge of poor conduct" witnessed in Sharjah, Raja said.

https://twitter.com/TheRealPCB/status/1567818327589781507?s=20&t=njw_lVU_J5wdO8Vp_2zalg
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