On Sunday, several reports made rounds on social media that claimed that many Indian fans who had valid tickets but wore the Indian jersey were barred from entering the Dubai International Cricket Stadium for the Asia Cup 2022 final between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The information was first revealed by the official Indian cricket fans group, the Bharat Army, on its official Twitter handle.
Bharat Army posted a video on their Twitter account in which some fans claimed that they were denied entry into the stadium because they were wearing the Indian team’s jersey. In the video, a fan stated that the security staff told them they could only enter the stadium if they wore a Pakistani or Sri Lankan jersey.
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Amidst the chaos, one of the Indian fans found a way of entering the stadium as he was seen donning Sri Lanka’s jersey, and then later on in the game, he was seen removing the Sri Lankan jersey and flaunted his Indian jersey.
https://twitter.com/sidha_memer/status/1569188907413291008?s=46&t=Kop_bPHM9zflrhJjmDQwUQ
Captioning the video of the same on Twitter, Bharat Army wrote:”SHOCKING TREATMENT as The Bharat Army and other Indian Cricket Fans told they can not enter the stadium wearing ‘India jerseys’!”
😡 SHOCKING TREATMENT as The Bharat Army and other Indian Cricket Fans told they can not enter the stadium wearing ‘India jerseys’! #BharatArmy #PAKvSL pic.twitter.com/5zORYZBcOy
— The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) September 11, 2022
The Bharat Army tagged the ICC and Asian Cricket Council in its tweet and sought an investigation into the matter. In the following tweet, they wrote: “The @icc & @ACCMedia1 we urge you to investigate as our members travelled all the way from India to watch the #AsiaCup2022 and have been told they can’t enter the stadium by local officials and the police! Absolutely shocking treatment!”
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Asked to bat first, Sri Lanka rode impressive fighting fifty by Bhanuka Rajapaksa (71 not out off 45) and an attacking knock by Wanindu Hasaranga (36 off 21) to post 170/6 against Pakistan in the final of the Asia Cup 2022. Apart from Rajapaksa and Hasaranga, Dhananjaya de Silva (28 off 21) and Chamika Karunaratne (14 not out off 14) also played vital knocks for Sri Lanka, during their stay at the crease.
