Islamabad:Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has met with British High Commissioner to Pakistan Thomas Drew and expressed the country's concerns over the display of anti-Pakistan banners during a recent cricket World Cup match held in Britain, local media reported Friday.
According to the reports, the foreign minister told the British envoy here on Thursday that the use of the stadium for anti-Pakistan propaganda is concerning for Pakistan and that it is against international norms and ethics.
During the match in Leeds city of Britain on Jun 29, a private aircraft was seen flying over towing controversial banners against Pakistan, whose videos and pictures circulated around the world.
Earlier on Jun 30, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement, saying "the flying of anti-Pakistan banners and use of sports venues for such malicious propaganda is unacceptable."
During the meeting with Drew, Qureshi also discussed the disrespectful attitude Pakistan's national team players were subjected to during the match and also expressed concerns over the safety of Pakistani players and citizens in Britain.
Nasty scenes were seen during and after the match when groups of people had been found attacking Pakistani spectators with punches, kicks, glass juice bottles, chairs and trash bins in and outside the stadium when they were celebrating Pakistan's victory in the nail-biting contest.
A couple of Pakistani fans were seen bleeding from their heads after the attacks.
Some angry fans succeeded in entering the ground and tried to attack Pakistani players but they were nabbed by security staff, according to the videos telecasted by local Pakistani Urdu TV channels.
Following the incident, Pakistan also urged relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate the matter and bring those responsible to account.
In response to Pakistan's call, the International Cricket Council (ICC) also expressed its displeasure about the incidents.
"We do not condone any sort of political messages at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup and will work with West Yorkshire police to deal with and understand why this has happened and to ensure it doesn't happen again," said a statement from the ICC.
