The West Indies Players Association (WIPA) strongly condemns these acts of violence. WIPA has been in contact with the West Indies players to ensure that they are safe and not injured in any way. The safety of the players and the support staff is of paramount importance and must never by compromised.
WIPA President and CEO, Dinanath Ramnarine stated that “it is regrettable what transpired in Bangladesh, thankfully none of our players are hurt. The potential for terrible incidents like this one today is why we insist that the standards agreed for regional and international matches must be continuously assessed and must be met at all times as it relates to the security of our players and other related matters.” Ramnarine said “we just cannot wait for something more serious to happen to pay attention to the issue of security, we need to be proactive”.
Given the serious ambush and assault by gunmen on the bus of the Sri Lankan players almost exactly two years ago to the date, WIPA is concerned that while other teams were provided with their personal security consultant by their respective boards, the West Indies team was not provided with the same level of support.
WIPA is naturally concerned about the attack – more specifically about the ability of individuals to be able to attack the bus, without the protection layer promised in the Event security plans – and have requested a full report on the incident from WICB / ICC.
Whilst the attack on the bus was minor in terms of damage, the potential vulnerability of the players’ transport is very concerning.
A revised security assessment must be done immediately to provide better security for our players to ensure their safety against all potential threats for the remainder of the 2011 WC and future events.
