Dawn Images

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) has been getting a lot of flak online after news broke that pro-Palestine banners have allegedly been banned in stadiums during matches. That, coupled with concerns about the league’s sponsors being on anti-Palestine lists, has riled people up and led to calls for a boycott.

Social media users have been sharing pictures of brand logos on players’ jerseys as well as on signboards at stadiums, urging fellow netizens to steer clear of supporting the event and in turn, companies that may be on the BDS list or linked to a company that is.

Most recently, the event came under fire for allegedly disallowing pro-Palestine banners into the stadium. After an attendee revealed on X that she was barred from carrying one into the Gaddafi Stadium on Monday night — during the match between the Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators — many on the micro-blogging site lambasted both the PCB and PSL.

“They acted like I’m carrying a weapon with me,” Faryal wrote on X. The attendee revealed that she was in possession of a banner declaring, “Palestine Will Be Free”. In a conversation with Dawn a day later, Faryal held that the guards were clear about it not being “allowed” inside.

“This is a political message, it is controversial and may hurt some people. If you want to go inside, you’ve to leave it here,” they said, as per Faryal. How the guards behaved, Faryal said, “scared my younger siblings who were accompanying me and I chose not to argue”.

While the guards may have been abiding by one of the terms and conditions printed on the PSL tickets — “Posters, banners, or placards, depicting religious, political, or racial discrimination in the form of text or pictures are strictly prohibited” — whether the statement on Faryal’s banner was “discriminatory” to any religion, country or race is debatable.

Moreover, it wasn’t the discrimination that the guards pointed towards rather, the “controversy” it would create — a sentiment eerily similar to the half-baked justification provided across the world to silence those speaking against the oppression of Palestinian people at the hands of Israel.

Images hasn’t been able to verify whether the condition has always been a part of the PSL events conducted over the years or whether it was recently introduced or rephrased so as to prevent attendees from making “political statements”. The PCB did not respond to Dawn’s earlier request for a comment.

Writer Fatima Bhutto was one of many people calling out the PSL on X. “If you are not a free space where fans can show their love and solidarity for a people under brutal assault, why should anyone sit in your stands and pay for your tickets and take pictures in your t-shirts and give you their attention, time and money?” she asked.

“Pro-Palestine banners and posters barred at PSL matches, Islamic Republic of Pakistan for you all!!” mocked a user. “This is from Purdue. Yet, you can not raise your voice in Pakistan (a Muslim country, or is it?)” asked another.

Another user shared a video of Turkish footballers brandishing pro-Palestine banners at weekend match. “This is unfortunate. This shows how serious we are towards the sufferings of innocent Palestinians. PCB really disappointed me. They should have learned something from Turkiye.”

Several others called for a boycott of the PSL.

This doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.