AUS vs PAK: Usman Khawaja not to wear pro-Palestine shoes to avoid getting banned from 1st Test in Perth

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AUS vs PAK: Usman Khawaja's plan to wear shoes sporting slogans supporting Palestine in the ongoing fight in Gaza has been marred by ICC's clothing regulations. The Australia opener wore the shoes sporting slogans “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” in the training session on Tuesday.

Khawaja stood the chance of getting banned from the first Test starting in Perth from December 14 for wearing the pro-Palestine shoes. ICC clothing regulations does not allow any player featuring the match to wear an item of clothing sporting a logo or wording that is “non-compliant”.

India's Javagal Srinath is the match referee in the Pakistan vs Australia 1st Test. Srinath could have prevented Khawaja from taking the field for wearing the shoes supporting the plight of the Palestinians caught in the fighting in Gaza.

“Any clothing or equipment that does not comply with these regulations is strictly prohibited. In particular, no logo shall be permitted to be displayed on cricket clothing or cricket equipment, other than a national logo, a commercial logo, an event logo, a manufacturer’s logo, a player’s bat logo, a charity logo or a non-commercial logo as provided in these regulations," the regulations state.

“In addition, where any match official becomes aware of any clothing or equipment that does not comply with these regulations, he shall be authorised to prevent the offending person from taking the field of play (or to order them from the field of play, if appropriate) until the non-compliant clothing or equipment is removed or appropriately covered up.”

Australia captain Pat Cummins has confirmed that his star opener would be wearing the shoes in the first Test. Cricket Australia (CA) supported Khawaja's right to personal opinion but backed the ICC rules which does not allow players to give messages for political causes.

“We support the right of our players to express personal opinions. But the ICC has rules in place which prohibit the display of personal messages which we expect the players to uphold," the statement from CA said.