A video of Karachi's National Stadium showcasing the flags of participating nations visiting the ICC Champion's Trophy 2025—which Pakistan is hosting from February 19—trigged a social media frenzy.
The Indian flag, as per the video, was not hoisted at the stadium, sparking a bitterly debated issue and reproaching the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for voicing its anger at India for not agreeing to host Champions Trophy matches in the country.
The PCB has played down the controversy by claiming that only the flags of the nations competing in Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 have been raised at the stadiums, despite social media being ablaze with fans condemning Pakistan for refusing to fly the Indian flag at its stadiums.
“As you know, India is not coming to Pakistan to play its matches during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025; the National Stadium in Karachi, Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore have hoisted flags of countries that are going to play at the said venues,” said a PCB source to IANS.
When asked why the Indian, Bangladesh and other participating countries’ flags were not there at the Karachi and Lahore stadiums, the source said, “The Indian team is going to play its matches in Dubai. Secondly, the Bangladesh team has not yet arrived in Pakistan and will be playing its first match against India in Dubai. Therefore, their flags have not been hoisted and the other nations, who have arrived here and will be playing in Pakistan… their flags are there at the stadium.”
The source added that PCB does not need to give out an official statement on the matter as it is related to a social media video with an ill-intended agenda.
“I don’t think PCB needs to even give an official statement on this. It’s clear that the controversy is made without facts and aims to damage host Pakistan’s image with fake news,” the source said.
“Different stadiums in Pakistan are going to host different teams during the Champions Trophy matches. And they’re hoisting their flags to welcome them”, it added.
It should be noted that because of political tensions and security concerns between Pakistan and India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had already decided against sending the Indian team there. Since India now hosts all of its matches in Dubai, the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to use a hybrid approach for the event.
The source further underlined that in places like Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi, enormous banners with the captains of every nation competing in the tournament—including India—are being erected. The action is a part of a PCB initiative to make sure the Champions Trophy is not dominated by political tensions and that the competition proceeds without any problems.
Champion Trophy is returning after a hiatus of eight years. Pakistan are the defending champion and the country is looking ahead to the event’s success, as they are hosting the ICC event for the first time since they co-hosted the 1996 World Cup.
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