New Zealand Cricket (NZC) have refused to send their team to Nairobi for their World Cup cricket match against Kenya on February 21.
NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said in a statement the security risk for the players was too great. The decision defied Thursday’s International Cricket Council (ICC) ruling that matches in Kenya and Zimbabwe would continue as planned despite safety fears.
‘The board has concluded that on the basis of the information currently available the safety and security risk for our players is too high,†Snedden said.
‘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.â€
Snedden said the safety and security of the team was the only relevant consideration for the NZC board. The information received by the ICC security delegation to Kenya made it clear that there was a tangible terrorist threat in Nairobi, and the board saw nothing which changed that, the statement said.
NZC took advice from independent security consultant Reg Dickason who visited Kenya earlier this month with team manager Jeff Crowe.
Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said he understood the decision to forfeit the match in Kenya.
‘New Zealanders will sympathise with NZC’s player safety concerns. Our cricketers have been caught up in four terrorist incidents in recent years, three in Sri Lanka and one Pakistan.
‘Our concern is in not the political situation in Kenya. We welcome the recent free and democratic elections there, a stark contrast to the situation in Zimbabwe. The concern here is solely safety,†Goff said.
Kenya had serious problems with law and order and while this could be dealt with by increasing security, terrorist threats were not so easily handled.
‘The greater potential concern is the threat of al-Qaeda terrorist attacks. Two serious terrorist attacks have occurred in Kenya, causing hundreds of casualties. There are ongoing reports about terrorist presence and intentions there.â€
Current Australian travel advisories warn against non-essential travel to Kenya. British and United States advisories tell travellers to Kenya to be vigilant and avoid large crowds.
Goff said he was not aware of any specific information about threats to sports events or that New Zealanders were being targeted, but the clear intention of terrorists was to target westerners and to maximise publicity.
‘The current controversy may have heightened the threat by giving the event greater profile.â€
NZC had made its decision on the best advice available. This included an independent security assessment, information from the US embassy and the South African police. The Government had also provided information and contacts in the area.
Before the decision was announced not to go to Kenya, Goff told NZPA that NZC was under ‘real pressureâ€.
‘The board itself has taken quite extraordinary measures to find out about the situation… Naturally, its paramount consideration is the safety of its people.
He considered criticism of New Zealand’s stance from the Kenyan cricket authorities ‘totally unfairâ€.
Goff said the cricket team were different to normal tourists in two ways.
‘On the positive side, they will have security that ordinary tourists don’t.
‘On the negative side they have a profile as a Western group which may attract the attention of terrorist operators.
‘What the cricket board has to do is say: ‘On balance, is the risk such that we can allow the game to go ahead, or should we withdraw the team?’
‘They are in the best position to make that decision.â€
In November, 16 people were killed in a suicide bombing at an Israeli-owned hotel in the Kenyan city of Mombasa. Minutes earlier, two missiles narrowly missed an Israeli airliner taking off nearby.
Islamic fundamentalist group al-Qaeda has twice said it was responsible for the attacks, but Israeli officials have blamed al-Ittihad al-Islami, a Somali-based group with links to the al-Qaeda network. – Sapa-NZPA