Usman Khawaja says the black armband he wore in Perth Test was not a political message

After being reprimanded by the International Cricket Council for wearing a black armband in the Perth Test, the Australian opener has replied.

Australian opener Usman Khawaja has called for “consistency” from the International Cricket Council after confirming the black armband he wore in the Perth Test was for a “personal bereavement” and not a political statement.

But he said he would continue to challenge the ICC for the right to show support to Palestinians on the cricket field.

Confirming he won’t wear shoes with handwritten slogans “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal” in the Boxing Day Test, the 36-year-old Test star was responding to being charged by cricket’s governing body for not seeking permission to wear the armband against Pakistan.

Khawaja was given a reprimand for breaching clause F of the ICC Clothing and Equipment Regulations, with the arm band deemed a “personal message” by the ICC despite the opening batter telling officials it wasn’t a political statement.

At the MCG on Friday morning, Khawaja said he “followed all the regulations” and questioned why he was being handed a penalty when other players had not for other incidents.

“I followed all the regulations, past precedents, guys have put stickers on their bats, names on their shoes,” he said.

“As I said to the ICC, it was for a personal bereavement. The armband was different to my shoes.

“My shoes are very obvious. And I, at the end of the day, I didn’t wear the shoes, I changed my mind in respect for the rules and procedures and I left it at that.

Usman Khawaja's boots with the message ‘Freedom is a human right’ and ‘All lives are equal’ in an image posted to social media. Picture: X / @Uz_Khawaja

“I think from my point of view, all I ask from the ICC is just consistency.

“I think there’s been plenty of people who’ve not had permission to wear stuff in the past.

“I was very clear and open about the armband, so I’ll deal with that with the ICC and I’ll have those conversations with them.”

Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley said he was working with Khawaja and the ICC to find a way for him to express his support for human rights without breaching the ICC’s code of conduct.

Both Hockley and Khawaja would not reveal what had been proposed to the ICC, but Khawaja said he would not wear the armband again on Boxing Day.

“That’s before the ICC. We’ll wait to see the outcome of those before we go any further. But all I can say is that discussions with Uzzie have been really constructive, and I think really respectful,” Hockley said.

Khawaja, who was stopped from wearing shoes brandishing the messages “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” during the first Test after wearing them at Australia’s training session before the match, said he had “no agendas” other than to oppose human rights breaches in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

“I’m trying to do it in the most respectful way possible. What I wrote on my shoes, I thought about it for a while what I was going to write,” he said.

“I made sure that I didn’t want to segregate different parts of the population, religious beliefs, communities, hence why I’ve kept religion out of this.

“I wanted to be really broad and open mind speaking because I’m talking about humanitarian issues, and talking about Article One of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, that is literally the crux of it.”

Usman Khawaja wearing a black armband in Perth. (Photo by Will Russell/Getty Images)

Khawaja, 37, said he had nothing to gain personally from his stance and was only attracting more personal attacks and criticism as he stood by his views.

“The reason I’m doing it is because it hit me hard – I told Nick (Hockley) literally just this morning that when I’m looking at my Instagram, I’m seeing kids, innocent kids, videos of them dying, passing away, that’s what’s hit me the hardest,” he said.

“I just imagine my young daughter in my arms, the same thing – I get emotional talking about it right now again, and for me, that’s the reason I’m doing this. I don’t have any hidden agendas.

“If anything, this brings up more negativity towards me, people come and start attacking me – I don’t get anything out of this.

“I just feel like it’s my responsibility to speak up on this. We live in such a beautiful country, I’m blessed … I can walk outside, I don’t have to worry about a thing, my kids can do the same. I just want that for the rest of the world.”