"Royal Couple who visited Pakistan had exactly same Presidential security as NZ squad" : Wasim Khan
Wasim Khan speaking today:
At 3am of the first ODI I received a call from the ESI head of security Mr Reg Dickason who is the security consultant for NZC informing me that a report had landed on the NZ Govt desk through their govt security agencies stating that there was a threat on the NZ team and that threat was direct and imminent on that particular day.
I arrived in Lahore later that day for more clarification from Dickason and he stated that information had emanated from 5 eyes and had reached the NZ PM office and that it was serious and that we needed to address immediately.
We then met with local security agencies and intelligence of Pakistan to ascertain if there was any threat. They made it very very clear that as far as they were concerned there was absolutely nothing that they had picked up to suggest any immediate threat to the NZ team.
I then received phone calls from David White of NZC about the report and that the PM of NZ had directed that the NZ squad and support staff return to NZ immediately.
I can categorically tell you that despite our requests the report was deemed to be confidential information which couldn’t be shared with anybody which was hugely disappointing for us considering that this was now threatening the tour. What we would have ideally liked to have done even if that information had gone to our security agencies for some intelligence to be shared and for us to mitigate any potential threats that they deemed possible within that report and try and deal with it collectively so we could keep the tour on.
We have seen in the past places like Bangladesh where attacks have happened but tours have continued based on reports by security experts. As far as we are concerned the security expert for NZ had maintained and continues to maintain that Pakistan is safe in terms of our security protocols that we have in place both from a plan and roll out perspective.
The Royal Couple, Prince William and Kate Middleton who visited Pakistan last year had exactly the same Presidential security as the New Zealand squad. There are 3 elements – the hotel is protected as a fortress so the players are secure, the route to and from the ground was the royal couple and other presidents and prime-ministers who have travelled to Pakistan have received the same level of security and provisions that are set in place for routes that they have to travel. Whilst the NCOC had agreed that 25% of fans would be allowed in, there were 9 checkpoints to get into the ground. Those checkpoints ensured the complete safety of fans even before they arrived. We gave fans notice to expect 2 and a half to 3 hours delay to get into the ground so that everything could be checked out. Everything was in place from our side and those plans and protocols were given a clean bill of health by the security expert who maintains to this day that was exactly what was put in place and as secure as possible.
What happens here when threat levels increase is that embassies and High Commissions change their travel advisory. Considering there was a supposed threat in that report, the countries that were privy to that report have not changed their travel advisories since that report was produced.
Any credible information in that report should have been shared and this is a very dangerous precedent when countries are unilaterally making decisions that can potentially have long-term consequences for countries. We expected some dialogue and discussion between NZ intelligence and our intelligence so at that level they could discuss what type of threat had been perceived so that we could try and mitigate that to ensure the tour continued. Had that information been shared we may have been able to enlighten the NZ government a little bit on what the information on the ground here was and what we could potentially do to mitigate that.
The NZ team had been practising for 3 days and were happy travelling to and from the Pindi stadium and the feedback we were getting from the players was that the security was excellent and there were no complaints there. Everything was running along smoothly as far as we were concerned.
We continue to have foreign visitors from all over the world coming into Pakistan into our beautiful country. They continue to visit and go in the north of Pakistan, into various places to visit the scenic and tourist areas in the North. For us there is despondency and disappointment and also potential ramifications and repercussions long term. We have worked very hard from a journey we started 5 years ago to get to where we are now and over the last 2 and a half to 3 years we have seen Test cricket return in what is probably the busiest season we have ever had in Pakistan cricket history with NZ, England due to arrive and also with West Indies and Australia due to come for the longest period in terms of touring Pakistan.
We continue to have good relationships with the cricket Board but what has to happen at an international level now is that we need to really look at this situation where countries can make a unilateral decision without any discussion with the host nations. This is going to cost us millions of dollars, this has severely affected us from a cricket credibility perspective and has set us back. ECB are meeting today to make a decision on whether they will tour Pakistan or not. We know what the guidance is and we are aware of the fact that from the security perspective there is a clean bill of health and we certainly hope that England will be touring and that will be announced later today. We certainly believe they should be coming and we hope that they will be coming based on what the competent authorities here in Islamabad is saying and what the security expert is saying. The same security expert who provided guidance to the ECB to go to Bangladesh 6 weeks after the bomb blast there which killed 12 people.
They are saying that Five Eyes Alliance had the security information and the report but they didn’t give the detailed information to Reg Dickason as it was deemed highly confidential that could only be shared amongst those 5 countries. Dickason spoke with the security agencies of the 5 countries just to verify that content was in those reports that pertained to a potential threat because they all received the same report and he confirmed to NZC that was the case.
The PM to PM spoke as a last-ditch effort to try and create some dialogue. What we were wanting first and foremost was discussions. Sure don’t share the report with PCB but share it with our intelligence and lets try and see whether we can mitigate any potential issues or challenges because our security had not picked up anything. There’s no issue about us playing NZ, lets also remember that NZ are saying that it was guidelines and guidance provided to them from their Govt. We’ve had a good relation ship with NZC in the past but this has created potential tensions right now due to the way this was done as it was disrespectful in many ways but there certainly wont be any danger of us not fulfilling our obligations at the ICC T20 World Cup.
Our understanding is that from a security perspective the travel advisory is an indicator of threat levels. As it stands at the moment the advisory has not changed. There was no security breach or perceived threat, the threat that was within that report was what we are saying should’ve been shared with our intelligence at that level so that we can try and mitigate it. This sets a very dangerous precedent as if countries can unilaterally abandon tours, then it does affect relationships. Where does it leave us as a sport. If the potential threats cannot be discussed at a high level – government to government level then we have a real problem in cricket. This is something that needs to be discussed amongst the members to ensure that from a very basic courteous and respect level this isn’t allowed to happen.
If there was a threat then surely that threat is also open to the civilians of Pakistan. So are we saying that the lives of the civilians in Pakistan are any less important or that the threat only applies to sportspeople. What we are saying is share that information lets work collectively as a cricket family, lets find a solution and see if we can mitigate because at the moment there is an inequality and that inequality is that in some cases it’s one rule for one and another rule for others and that has to stop. This has hit us very hard, the consequence of this are going to be far-reaching, financially and cricket-wise and the abruptness of how this happened, you can understand the emotions.
There is inequality in cricket. We have done everything that was asked of us, we have shown solidarity in cricket, our players have gone through hardship, 14 days quarantine in New Zealand, we toured after the mosque attack in New Zealand. We have done everything that we possibly could. We expect fair treatment the other way as well. It’s easy to walk out of countries like Pakistan without any reason without dialogue, without any discussion and that has to stop because the inequality has to stop in world cricket and unless we do that we aren’t going to have an even playing field both in treatment and in finances.
We can’t request compensation from ICC as this was a bilateral series. Ramiz Raja and I will be taking this issue up at the ICC level but also NZC and this is something we will be looking to have discussion more broadly over when we sit at the ICC table. We were owed the respect to at least have some dialogue. We all want to see a peaceful world and a harmonious world and a safe world. If we can’t share intelligence outside a circle then it’s going to make it very hard for countries to be able to deal with and mitigate any threats. We have a duty to the fans to play against NZ in the T20 World Cup and our job should be to go out there and win that match.
Ramiz Raja has written to NZC and that is something privately we have taken up with NZC and their Chairman. This will also be picked up with the ICC. The biggest issue we have right now is to stop anything like this being allowed to happen unilaterally. What we can do is for the ICC and us to have a discussion. Once the security agencies are involved the argument is that this gets escalated to government level and then it’s out of our hands as a cricket Board. What we have to try and work out is when reports are generated and are shared with cricket Boards that the Boards are allowed to sit down and discuss what the issues are within the report and work collectively and sort them out. If we didn’t go to NZ after the Bangladesh attack and said sorry we aren’t going what would have been the implications for NZC. The consequences of us not going to England last year what would have been the consequences financially. This is what I mean by inequality and making sure that everyone is on an equal field based not just on financial clout but based on the fact that there’s an equal clout and respect across all the members of ICC and so that we have an equal consistent policy and procedure that is followed when incidents like this occur again and make sure that something like this can’t happen again because if it happens again then it’s going to continue to put those Cricket Boards in perilous positions and we find ourselves in that position today.
We feel a lack of respect as a proud nation of 230 million people who love their cricket and who have sacrificed a lot over the last 12 years to get cricket back and it can be pulled from under our feet in the space of 8-9 hours without any reason, without any discussion or debate or sharing of information, that’s the issue we have. If that information had been shared and a mutual agreement had come to pass without our security agencies that there was a credible threat and we ascertained that and it couldn’t be mitigated then I think that is the stage you mutually agree but at least you’ve explored it and you’ve exhausted the options.
As it stands at the moment, we have no plans to move our home series abroad. It’s taken us a long time to return and we are adamant that we remain safe but we always have to have contingency and backup plans. But as it stands right now there is no conversation about us playing our home series abroad.
We have reached out to both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and there was a strong willingness to come and play but because it’s such short notice logistically it’s very difficult for them and Bangladesh’s players are dispersed around the country and the Sri Lanka squad are going to Oman soon. So it’s not been possible to put anything in place in this short period of time but it has been explored by our Chairman and is something that has been looked in the last 24 hours.
Wasim Khan speaking today:
At 3am of the first ODI I received a call from the ESI head of security Mr Reg Dickason who is the security consultant for NZC informing me that a report had landed on the NZ Govt desk through their govt security agencies stating that there was a threat on the NZ team and that threat was direct and imminent on that particular day.
I arrived in Lahore later that day for more clarification from Dickason and he stated that information had emanated from 5 eyes and had reached the NZ PM office and that it was serious and that we needed to address immediately.
We then met with local security agencies and intelligence of Pakistan to ascertain if there was any threat. They made it very very clear that as far as they were concerned there was absolutely nothing that they had picked up to suggest any immediate threat to the NZ team.
I then received phone calls from David White of NZC about the report and that the PM of NZ had directed that the NZ squad and support staff return to NZ immediately.
I can categorically tell you that despite our requests the report was deemed to be confidential information which couldn’t be shared with anybody which was hugely disappointing for us considering that this was now threatening the tour. What we would have ideally liked to have done even if that information had gone to our security agencies for some intelligence to be shared and for us to mitigate any potential threats that they deemed possible within that report and try and deal with it collectively so we could keep the tour on.
We have seen in the past places like Bangladesh where attacks have happened but tours have continued based on reports by security experts. As far as we are concerned the security expert for NZ had maintained and continues to maintain that Pakistan is safe in terms of our security protocols that we have in place both from a plan and roll out perspective.
The Royal Couple, Prince William and Kate Middleton who visited Pakistan last year had exactly the same Presidential security as the New Zealand squad. There are 3 elements – the hotel is protected as a fortress so the players are secure, the route to and from the ground was the royal couple and other presidents and prime-ministers who have travelled to Pakistan have received the same level of security and provisions that are set in place for routes that they have to travel. Whilst the NCOC had agreed that 25% of fans would be allowed in, there were 9 checkpoints to get into the ground. Those checkpoints ensured the complete safety of fans even before they arrived. We gave fans notice to expect 2 and a half to 3 hours delay to get into the ground so that everything could be checked out. Everything was in place from our side and those plans and protocols were given a clean bill of health by the security expert who maintains to this day that was exactly what was put in place and as secure as possible.
What happens here when threat levels increase is that embassies and High Commissions change their travel advisory. Considering there was a supposed threat in that report, the countries that were privy to that report have not changed their travel advisories since that report was produced.
Any credible information in that report should have been shared and this is a very dangerous precedent when countries are unilaterally making decisions that can potentially have long-term consequences for countries. We expected some dialogue and discussion between NZ intelligence and our intelligence so at that level they could discuss what type of threat had been perceived so that we could try and mitigate that to ensure the tour continued. Had that information been shared we may have been able to enlighten the NZ government a little bit on what the information on the ground here was and what we could potentially do to mitigate that.
The NZ team had been practising for 3 days and were happy travelling to and from the Pindi stadium and the feedback we were getting from the players was that the security was excellent and there were no complaints there. Everything was running along smoothly as far as we were concerned.
We continue to have foreign visitors from all over the world coming into Pakistan into our beautiful country. They continue to visit and go in the north of Pakistan, into various places to visit the scenic and tourist areas in the North. For us there is despondency and disappointment and also potential ramifications and repercussions long term. We have worked very hard from a journey we started 5 years ago to get to where we are now and over the last 2 and a half to 3 years we have seen Test cricket return in what is probably the busiest season we have ever had in Pakistan cricket history with NZ, England due to arrive and also with West Indies and Australia due to come for the longest period in terms of touring Pakistan.
We continue to have good relationships with the cricket Board but what has to happen at an international level now is that we need to really look at this situation where countries can make a unilateral decision without any discussion with the host nations. This is going to cost us millions of dollars, this has severely affected us from a cricket credibility perspective and has set us back. ECB are meeting today to make a decision on whether they will tour Pakistan or not. We know what the guidance is and we are aware of the fact that from the security perspective there is a clean bill of health and we certainly hope that England will be touring and that will be announced later today. We certainly believe they should be coming and we hope that they will be coming based on what the competent authorities here in Islamabad is saying and what the security expert is saying. The same security expert who provided guidance to the ECB to go to Bangladesh 6 weeks after the bomb blast there which killed 12 people.
They are saying that Five Eyes Alliance had the security information and the report but they didn’t give the detailed information to Reg Dickason as it was deemed highly confidential that could only be shared amongst those 5 countries. Dickason spoke with the security agencies of the 5 countries just to verify that content was in those reports that pertained to a potential threat because they all received the same report and he confirmed to NZC that was the case.
The PM to PM spoke as a last-ditch effort to try and create some dialogue. What we were wanting first and foremost was discussions. Sure don’t share the report with PCB but share it with our intelligence and lets try and see whether we can mitigate any potential issues or challenges because our security had not picked up anything. There’s no issue about us playing NZ, lets also remember that NZ are saying that it was guidelines and guidance provided to them from their Govt. We’ve had a good relation ship with NZC in the past but this has created potential tensions right now due to the way this was done as it was disrespectful in many ways but there certainly wont be any danger of us not fulfilling our obligations at the ICC T20 World Cup.
Our understanding is that from a security perspective the travel advisory is an indicator of threat levels. As it stands at the moment the advisory has not changed. There was no security breach or perceived threat, the threat that was within that report was what we are saying should’ve been shared with our intelligence at that level so that we can try and mitigate it. This sets a very dangerous precedent as if countries can unilaterally abandon tours, then it does affect relationships. Where does it leave us as a sport. If the potential threats cannot be discussed at a high level – government to government level then we have a real problem in cricket. This is something that needs to be discussed amongst the members to ensure that from a very basic courteous and respect level this isn’t allowed to happen.
If there was a threat then surely that threat is also open to the civilians of Pakistan. So are we saying that the lives of the civilians in Pakistan are any less important or that the threat only applies to sportspeople. What we are saying is share that information lets work collectively as a cricket family, lets find a solution and see if we can mitigate because at the moment there is an inequality and that inequality is that in some cases it’s one rule for one and another rule for others and that has to stop. This has hit us very hard, the consequence of this are going to be far-reaching, financially and cricket-wise and the abruptness of how this happened, you can understand the emotions.
There is inequality in cricket. We have done everything that was asked of us, we have shown solidarity in cricket, our players have gone through hardship, 14 days quarantine in New Zealand, we toured after the mosque attack in New Zealand. We have done everything that we possibly could. We expect fair treatment the other way as well. It’s easy to walk out of countries like Pakistan without any reason without dialogue, without any discussion and that has to stop because the inequality has to stop in world cricket and unless we do that we aren’t going to have an even playing field both in treatment and in finances.
We can’t request compensation from ICC as this was a bilateral series. Ramiz Raja and I will be taking this issue up at the ICC level but also NZC and this is something we will be looking to have discussion more broadly over when we sit at the ICC table. We were owed the respect to at least have some dialogue. We all want to see a peaceful world and a harmonious world and a safe world. If we can’t share intelligence outside a circle then it’s going to make it very hard for countries to be able to deal with and mitigate any threats. We have a duty to the fans to play against NZ in the T20 World Cup and our job should be to go out there and win that match.
Ramiz Raja has written to NZC and that is something privately we have taken up with NZC and their Chairman. This will also be picked up with the ICC. The biggest issue we have right now is to stop anything like this being allowed to happen unilaterally. What we can do is for the ICC and us to have a discussion. Once the security agencies are involved the argument is that this gets escalated to government level and then it’s out of our hands as a cricket Board. What we have to try and work out is when reports are generated and are shared with cricket Boards that the Boards are allowed to sit down and discuss what the issues are within the report and work collectively and sort them out. If we didn’t go to NZ after the Bangladesh attack and said sorry we aren’t going what would have been the implications for NZC. The consequences of us not going to England last year what would have been the consequences financially. This is what I mean by inequality and making sure that everyone is on an equal field based not just on financial clout but based on the fact that there’s an equal clout and respect across all the members of ICC and so that we have an equal consistent policy and procedure that is followed when incidents like this occur again and make sure that something like this can’t happen again because if it happens again then it’s going to continue to put those Cricket Boards in perilous positions and we find ourselves in that position today.
We feel a lack of respect as a proud nation of 230 million people who love their cricket and who have sacrificed a lot over the last 12 years to get cricket back and it can be pulled from under our feet in the space of 8-9 hours without any reason, without any discussion or debate or sharing of information, that’s the issue we have. If that information had been shared and a mutual agreement had come to pass without our security agencies that there was a credible threat and we ascertained that and it couldn’t be mitigated then I think that is the stage you mutually agree but at least you’ve explored it and you’ve exhausted the options.
As it stands at the moment, we have no plans to move our home series abroad. It’s taken us a long time to return and we are adamant that we remain safe but we always have to have contingency and backup plans. But as it stands right now there is no conversation about us playing our home series abroad.
We have reached out to both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and there was a strong willingness to come and play but because it’s such short notice logistically it’s very difficult for them and Bangladesh’s players are dispersed around the country and the Sri Lanka squad are going to Oman soon. So it’s not been possible to put anything in place in this short period of time but it has been explored by our Chairman and is something that has been looked in the last 24 hours.
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