Terror threat rocks Pakistan's PSL: Foreign players asked to 'withdraw immediately'

Karachi, March – The 11th edition of the Pakistan Super League, scheduled to begin on 26 March, has been plunged into crisis after the banned militant group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan issued an explicit warning to overseas cricketers, urging them to pull out of the competition with immediate effect.

A statement released by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of the TTP, told foreign participants to “prioritize your personal security and withdraw from the tournament immediately,” arguing that staging high-profile matches while large parts of the country “bleed” amounts to “rubbing salt into our wounds.”

The communiqué, circulated on Monday by the Pakistan-based social-media account Islamabad Post, claims that residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are living through “unprecedented hardships” caused by “systemic military oppression and state-led violence.” Against that backdrop, the group says, “the organized spectacle of the PSL serves as a cruel mockery of our suffering.”

While stressing that it is “not inherently opposed to healthy sporting activities,” Jamaat-ul-Ahrar condemned what it called the state’s hypocrisy: “promoting an image of normalcy through cricket matches in one part of the country while state-sponsored atrocities continue unabated in another.”

A spokesperson for the faction later confirmed the warning to The Sunday Guardian, advising national cricket boards “not to send their players to Pakistan. If something happens to them, it will not be our responsibility. We have already warned.” Asked whether the group would actively try to stop the event, he replied, “Yes, we will do our best to ensure that the matches do not happen and the players do not play.”

The threat lands barely 24 hours after the Pakistan Cricket Board announced that the entire competition would be held behind closed doors at only two venues—Karachi’s National Stadium and Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium—because of fuel shortages and heightened security concerns linked to the wider West Asia situation. Organisers had hoped the streamlined format would reassure overseas stars and mark a step toward the full return of international cricket to Pakistan.

This year’s player roster features several high-profile imports: Australia’s David Warner, Steve Smith, Moeen Ali, Devon Conway and Adam Zampa have all signed up. Smith touched down in Karachi on Monday to join Multan Sultans and was set to make his PSL debut after finishing Australia’s domestic Big Bash League.

PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi has so far made no public comment on the TTP statement, but officials privately acknowledge that player safety is now the board’s paramount concern. Security consultants are reviewing protocols while diplomatic channels have been opened with the home boards of the affected cricketers.

The tournament, slated to run until 3 May, hangs in the balance as franchises await clarity on whether foreign recruits will stay or fly home. With tickets already scrapped and stadiums empty, the PSL faces the prospect of proceeding without its headline attractions—or not at all.