The New Zealand cricket team has defied the International Cricket Council and will not play a scheduled World Cup match in Kenya next month because of security fears.
The decision, announced yesterday after a daylong meeting of the New Zealand Cricket board in the southern city of Christchurch, follows an International Cricket Counci (ICC) ruling on Thursday that two Cup matches planned for Nairobi should proceed.
PHOTO: AP
``The New Zealand Cricket team will not be playing in Kenya,'' chief executive Martin Snedden said in a statement.
``This decision was made by the New Zealand Cricket board after reviewing all the evidence regarding safety and security of playing the World Cup match scheduled for Feb. 21.
``As part of that process the board has received additional safety and security reports which have come to hand since Tuesday and have taken further from advice from [an] independent security consultant.
``The board has concluded that on the basis of the information currently available the safety and security risk for our players is too high.''
``The New Zealand Cricket board will give notice to the ICC that it does not believe that the decision taken by the ICC last night was reasonable. This is a matter which will now be resolved through legal processes.''
New Zealand now faces censure and possible financial penalty for its rejection of the ICC directive. It has heeded, instead, advice from its own government and from private security advisers that the safety of its players in Kenya cannot be guaranteed.
``The commercial consequences are very difficult to quantify but are quite possibly substantial,'' Snedden said later yesterday.
``I can't put a figure on it but I know there's a potential there for it to be severe and we'll be doing everything we can from this point on to prove our decision is justified.''
Snedden said he did not believe New Zealand risked suspension from international cricket, though Kenyan officials had called on the ICC to ban it from test matches for a year.
``I seriously don't think that's an option that anyone would get into,'' he said.
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed announced in London on Thursday that his organization was satisfied with security arrangements surrounding the New Zealand match in Nairobi and another between Kenya and Sri Lanka on Feb. 24.
New Zealand had made a lengthy submission to the ICC on security issues, including a report from its own security consultant, Reg Dickason, which cast doubt on the ability of Kenyan police to meet any terrorist threat.
Earlier yesterday, New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff said his government had provided information to help the New Zealand Cricket board reach its decision.
``The board itself has taken quite extraordinary measures to find out about the situation,'' Goff said. ``Naturally, its paramount consideration is the safety of its people.''
In November, 14 people including three Israelis were killed in a car bombing at the Kenyan beach resort of Mombassa. Two surface to air missiles were also fired at an Israeli airliner.
The New Zealand Cricket Players' Association hailed yesterday's decision as courageous.
``We're very happy with the decision from New Zealand Cricket,'' said association spokesman Heath Mills. ``We're disappointed the ICC doesn't appear to also have player safety as its top priority.''
Mills said it was now more than likely New Zealand would be penalized by the ICC for its decision.
``There will be implications but the decision had to be made and New Zealand Cricket can now consider the other issues as they arise.''
Mills indicated New Zealand players were still emotionally scarred by previous experience of terrorist activity. The New Zealand team was forced to abandon a tour of Pakistan last May when a terrorist bomb exploded outside its hotel, killing 14 foreigners.
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