The International Cricket Council and Cricket West Indies, with under a month remaining before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup gets underway, are assuring stakeholders that a “comprehensive and robust security plan” is in place for the global showpiece event.
The statement by the two organization comes after Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley confirmed that security agencies in the region were monitoring a possible terror threat while asserting that “extra effort in national security preparations and response readiness” will be put in to neutralise the danger.
Dr. Rowley made the revelation while speaking to the Sunday Express in Trinidad after reports of a terror threat, which had circulated on social media, emerged over the weekend.
The threat according to media reports was made by the Islamic State through its propaganda channel, and is specific to the West Indies, which aside from some preliminary matches, will be host the entire Super 8 Stage along with the semifinals and the final in Barbados on June 29.
“Unfortunately, the threat of terrorism in its many and varied expressions is an ever-present danger in the world of the 21st century,” Dr. Rowley was quoted as saying by ‘Trinidad Daily Express’.
“It is against this backdrop that all nations, like our region, when hosting large or vulnerable gatherings, make an extra effort in national security preparations and response readiness to take seriously, all threats, expressed or implied,” he added.
Dr. Rowley said the event, which is scattered across nine venues, six of them in the West Indies, will be closely monitored throughout its duration to ensure there is no security breach.
“Given the fact that bad actors can choose to misbehave in any way possible, it makes it virtually impossible to completely seal off all opportunities,” he said.
“However, in order to ameliorate these dangers, we at the local and regional levels have remained alert to many threats and singularly or together have our intelligence and other security agencies working to protect the population in countries and at venues throughout the tournament,” he added.
Reacting to the development, Cricket West Indies said everything was being done to ensure foolproof security at the mega-event and issued a joint statement with the ICC assuring stakeholders of the security measures in place.
“We work closely with authorities in the host countries and cities, and continually monitor and evaluate the global landscape to ensure appropriate plans are in place to mitigate any risks identified to our event,” the statement said. “We want to assure all stakeholders that safety and security of everyone at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is our number one priority and we have a comprehensive and robust security plan in place.
The T20 World Cup will be played in nine venues, six of them in the West Indies and three in the United States. The 20-team tournament runs from June 1 to 29, with Barbados scheduled to host the final.
The fifteen-man West Indies team led by Rovman Powell, was revealed on Friday.
The Windies has been drawn in Group C where they kick-start their campaign on June 2 against Papua New Guinea at Providence in Guyana before facing Uganda at the same venue on June 8.
They then play New Zealand at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad on June 12, before their final game of the group stage against Afghanistan in St. Lucia on June 17.
