Jeddah, Jun 19: The Saudi Arabian Football Federation said everyone is safe after a minor technical fault with the plane carrying the team to Rostov, in Russia.
A video, which appeared on Social media, showed a fire on one of the aircraft’s engines.
In a Twitter post, the federation confirmed the team had landed safely in Rostov, where they will play Group A favorites Uruguay in the World Cup on Wednesday.
Dubai, Feb 11: Two Indian players-- Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi -- and three Bangladeshis have been charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for involvement in the quarrel just after the U-19 cricket World Cup summit clash in Potchefstroom, South Africa on Sunday.
Akash and Bishnoi and three Bangladeshi players -- Md. Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan -- were found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct after a few players from both sides nearly came to blows after Bangladesh beat India by three wickets to win their maiden U-19 World Cup title.
"Five players have been found guilty of a Level 3 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Support Personnel ... (they) were charged with violating Article 2.21 of the code, whilst Bishnoi received a further charge of breaching Article 2.5," the ICC said in a statement.
"All five players have accepted the sanctions proposed by ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Match Referee Graeme Labrooy," it added.
A near brawl broke out after Bangladesh’s historic win over India in the final. The Bangladesh players were aggressive during the Indian innings with lead pacer Shoriful Islam frequently sledging the Indian batsmen.
As soon as the match ended, Bangladeshi players rushed into the playing area.
"India's Akash accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of eight suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years," the ICC said.
Compatriot Bishnoi accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of five suspension points, which equates to five demerit points.
"Bishnoi also accepted a level 1 charge of breaching Article 2.5 for a separate incident during the match, where he used language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter following the dismissal of Avishek Das in the 23rd over," said the ICC.
"For this he received a further two demerit points meaning seven demerit points will remain on his record for the next two years."
Bangladesh's Towhid Hridoy accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of ten suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.
Shamim Hossain accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of eight suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.
Rakibul Hasan accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of four suspension points, which equates to five demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.
All charges were levelled by on-field umpires Sam Nogajski and Adrian Holdstock, third umpire Ravindra Wimalasiri as well as fourth umpire Patrick Bongni Jele. Level 3 breaches carry a minimum penalty of four suspension points and a maximum penalty of 12 suspension points.
The suspension points will be applied to the forthcoming international matches the players are most likely to participate in at either senior or U-19 level. One suspension point equals a player being ineligible for one ODI or T20I, U-19 or A team international match.
Jul 21: The tickets sold for the now-postponed ICC T20 World Cup will remain valid if Australia hosts the edition in 2021 instead of India.
In case the event is shifted to 2022, all ticket-holders will be entitled to a full refund, the ICC stated on its website on Monday night after postponing the mega-event this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The tournament was to be held in October-November but will now be conducted later because of the pandemic.
The ICC has not yet announced which country will host which edition as there are operational issues that both the Indian and Australian cricket Boards need to sort out.
The world body had opened ticket booking through its ticketing partners and a significant number was already sold.
"Ticket holders are welcome to retain their tickets, noting, if Australia hosts in 2021, tickets will remain valid for fans who have already bought and will be automatically updated to reflect the new dates.
"If Australia hosts in 2022, for tickets already bought a full refund will be processed automatically," ICC stated in a series of FAQs.
Fans can retain their tickets until a date is confirmed for the event.
Refund requests can be made until December 15 and they will be processed within 30 days after an online submission.
The hospitality package will also remain valid for the 2021 fixtures.
Karachi, Apr 14: Disappointed with Kapil Dev's response, Pakistan's Shahid Afridi has backed his former teammate Shoaib Akhtar's proposal for an ODI series against India to help raise funds for the less privileged in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Afridi told reporters in Kohat that he was surprised by the comments of Indian great Kapil and former IPL chairman, Rajeev Shukla, who outrightly dismissed Akhtar's suggestion.
"The entire world is fighting against coronavirus and we need unity in our region to defeat this common enemy. Such negative comments don't help at all," Afridi said.
"I don't see anything wrong with Shoaib Akhtar's suggestion for Pakistan and India to play cricket.
"Kapil's reaction has surprised me. I expected better from him and feel one should not talk like this in these crisis times."
Afridi said that he was also surprised at some of the "negative comments" Indian stars Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh's support for his charity foundation attracted.
"Sport is supposed to bring people together and build bridges. It is pretty disappointing."
Afridi also urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to order the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to restore departmental cricket in the country to save the livelihood of hundreds of domestic players.
"I myself played for the departments and witnessed how departments really salvaged domestic cricket in Pakistan and helped it thrive decade after decade.
"Departments take good care of the players and spend lots of money on the development of domestic cricket, so how can departmental cricket hurt Pakistan cricket," questioned Afridi.
He also questioned the PCB and the Pakistan team management for making a fitness of players a big issue.
"They are always talking about hard training and fitness tests. I have never seen fitness tests taken with such frequency and the result is that many players are getting injured and many of them are also unhappy with the situation."
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