At least three West Indies cricketers – Rovman Powell, Akeal Hosein and Sherfane Rutherford – have managed to secure commercial flights back to the Caribbean, while head coach Daren Sammy and the majority of the squad remain stranded in Kolkata after charter arrangements collapsed.
The ICC, which has said it is “working closely with teams” to secure safe passage, has seen its fallback plan unravel after refuelling permissions were reportedly denied in Johannesburg and Antigua, leaving the Windies back at square one.
The US-Israel War with Iran scuppered the original travel plans for the West Indies and South Africa after they were knocked out of the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
The Windies lost to South Africa at the Super Eight stage on March 1, and South Africa were beaten by New Zealand in the semifinals on March 4.
England, however, were able to arrange a charter flight within 36 hours after being eliminated by India on March 5.
Over the weekend, reports from Kolkata indicated that the ICC was working on a charter flight for the West Indies and South Africa, but on Tuesday, St Lucia Times learned that that option had been taken off the table due to a lack of permissions from two of the airports involved.
A source close to the situation said that, overnight, Johannesburg and Antigua & Barbuda gave notice to charter operators that, until further notice, ad hoc charters would no longer be allowed to refuel. Although it is possible that that could be resolved quickly, as of the time of reporting, the West Indies were back to square one.
Private arrangements were made for Powell, Hosein and Rutherford via commercial flights, the source said, and organisers have said that they can facilitate the teams piecemeal if travel is critical for them.
The latest voice to join in criticism of the ICC is former England captain Michael Vaughn, who summed up the state of play on his X account by saying, “This isn’t right.”
ICC has also come under pressure from the West Indies head coach, Sammy, as well as South African players Quinton de Kock and David Miller.
The organisation has denied any bias in travel arrangements.
An ICC spokesperson told the BBC, “Decisions on departure sequencing are being driven solely by airspace availability, aircraft routing permissions, visa requirements and operational safety considerations.
“For instance, the England team and their staff were able to fly out from Mumbai without restriction due to the route’s airspace being unaffected and flights operating as usual.”
Further complicating matters, the 2026 Indian Premier League season is slated to begin later this month. Stakeholders, including the ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India, BCCI, will be monitoring the situation in the Persian Gulf closely ahead of the months-long competition.
