Pakistan opener Usman Khawaja has reportedly suffered a fresh setback as his latest appeal to showcase his support to Palestine in the ongoing Hamas-Israel war in Gaza was denied by the ICC.

Previously, Khawaja had planned to wear messages on his shoes in the colors of the Palestine flag in the first Test between Australia and Pakistan which was played in Perth. But after the intervention of ICC and Cricket Australia, Khawaja decided against doing so and wore a black armband instead.  

But the ICC reprimanded him for doing so, without clearing it with the cricketing body first.

Khawaja, a Muslim hailing from Pakistan, has been trying to showcase support to the people of Palestine in Gaza, who have been affected by the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, which began on 7 October 2023.

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In his fresh attempt to show support for peace, Khawaja appealed to the ICC for permission to wear a sticker showing a black dove and the words 01:UDHR -- a reference to Article One of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He had done so during the net session ahead of the second Test in Melbourne.

The star batter had multiple meetings with Cricket Australia over recent days to find a message that would be appropriate for the second Test this week, local media said.

However, as per The Australian and Melbourne Age newspapers, despite Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) clearing the logos, Khawaja received a rejection of his application on Sunday by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The ICC expressly stipulates that players are not permitted to display any symbol, banner, or badge relating to their political opinions on their kit or wearables.

Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja's teammate, has an eagle-shaped emblem on his bat that is the same size as the black dove that Khawaja wants. However, Labuschagne's eagle logo includes a bible scripture.

(AFP inputs)