https://arab.news/rka7m
- Trophy presentation at last week’s Asia Cup final was scrapped after India refused to receive it from ACC president Mohsin Naqvi
- Naqvi says he “never apologized” to India’s cricket board, remains ready to hand over trophy if Indians collect from ACC
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday denied Indian media reports that he had apologized to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over a controversy surrounding the Asia Cup trophy, saying India was “welcome” to collect the prize from him.
The row stems from the final of the Asia Cup cricket tournament last week between India and Pakistan, longtime political arch-rivals. India defeated Pakistan by five wickets in the final but declined to receive the trophy and winners’ medals from Naqvi, who also serves as president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and is Pakistan’s interior minister.
The unprecedented standoff forced organizers to remove the trophy from the podium and cancel the main presentation ceremony.
Indian news outlets reported this week that Naqvi had apologized privately to the BCCI for the incident but had attached conditions to the handover of the trophy.
On Tuesday, Naqvi rejected those claims in a post on X.
“I have done nothing wrong and I have never apologized to the BCCI nor will I ever do so,” Naqvi wrote.
“As ACC President, I was ready to hand over the trophy that very day and I am still ready now. If they truly want it, they are welcome to come to the ACC office and collect it from me.”
The incident comes against the backdrop of long-running political tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, which have fought three wars since independence and severed most bilateral sporting ties after the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral cricket series in more than a decade, meeting only in multi-nation tournaments like the Asia Cup or World Cup.
Analysts say that hostility now increasingly spills over into cricket itself, with gestures such as India’s refusal to receive the trophy from a Pakistani minister reflecting broader diplomatic estrangement.
India’s refusal to receive the trophy from Naqvi has also fueled criticism on both sides and renewed debate about how politics is shaping South Asia’s fiercest cricket rivalry.
It remains unclear whether the Indian team intends to collect the trophy from the ACC, or if the dispute could prompt changes in how regional cricket tournaments are governed in the future.