The Pakistan Champions team withdrew from the ongoing World Championship of Legends (WCL 2026) tournament. The previous postponement of the team’s game with Bangladesh had been due to “technical reasons,” but everybody knew that the management had been awaiting the issuance of the NOC by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The official statement of the Pakistan Champions did not mention any demands but just said that the team pulled out of the competition after not getting the NoC from the PCB.

“Pakistan Champions regret to confirm that the team will not be able to participate in the ongoing World Championship of Legends (WCL), following the Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision to uphold its refusal to issue the required NOC.

We respect PCB’s authority and its decision, while naturally being disappointed that our players will not have the opportunity to represent Pakistan Champions at this global gathering of cricketing legends. We sincerely thank our players, supporters, and fans for their patience, understanding, and continued support," the team said in a statement on Monday.

The PCB was ready to issue the NOC, but under certain conditions, which were ultimately rejected by the organizers. The Indian side had earlier refused to participate in the game against Pakistan in the wake of the terror attack in Pahalgam.

Firstly, the group stage tie was called off, but India did not relent before the semi-finals, as a result of which Pakistan won through a walkover and got eliminated by South Africa in the summit battle.

As per reports, the PCB had asked the Indian team to apologize for what happened last year, but the WCL organizing committee did not entertain their request, after which Pakistan withdrew from the event.

“The PCB agreed to issue an NOC to the Pakistan Champions team for the WCL, subject to certain conditions. However, the WCL management did not agree to any of the PCB's demands.

The PCB wanted the ⁠Indian players to give a written apology for not taking the field last year, and moreover, the board also wanted the Indian camp to be okay with the handshake this time around. However, the WCL only accepted the commercial teams and rejected the apology and handshake bit,” the source confirmed to Hindustan Times Digital on Monday evening.

The WCL Season 3 had already released the fixture schedule, which placed India against Pakistan on October 10. However, this match has now been canceled due to Pakistan pulling out of the tournament.