It seems there is no end to the controversies surrounding former Pakistani cricket captain Shahid Khan Afridi who again caught up in a huge controversy days after he was subjected to trolling for responding to a journalist’s comment that contained a veiled attack on incarcerated Pakistan cricket legend and former prime minister Imran Khan.
This time Afridi found himself in trouble water for posing with a photograph with a Zionist group in Manchester who were staging a protest in favour of Israel holding all kinds of placards.
A group named ‘North West Friends of Israel’ uploaded a photo of Afridi on X (formerly Twitter) standing with the group’s chair and deputy chair. People holding placards can be seen in the background.
The post claimed that Afridi had lent support for a protest asking for Israeli hostages to be released.
“Pakistani international cricketer @SAfridiOfficial stopped to offer his support for our call to release the hostages at our NWFOI vigil last Sunday in Manchester,” the post said.
“Thank you for your support, Shahid!” it added.
However, Shahid Afridi later clarified that he thought that a recent photograph with a Zionist group happened because he thought it was an ordinary fan interaction.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) after the photo went viral, Afridi said that he was walking down a street in UK when some people asked him for a photo and he obliged.
“Imagine strolling down a street in Manchester (UK) and so-called fans approach you for a selfie. You oblige, and moments later, they upload it as some form of Zionist endorsement,” he wrote.
“Unbelievable! Please don’t believe everything that is uploaded.”
https://x.com/SAfridiOfficial/status/1803473155710988335
He went on to add that the photo does not signify his support for any situation where ‘human lives are at stake’.
“Seeing innocent lives in Palestine suffer is truly heartbreaking. Thus, any photo or association shared by in Manchester does not reflect my support for any situation where human lives are at stake,” he wrote.
“I take pictures with fans from all over the globe, and this situation was no different,” he said.
However, Afridi's response also lacked a clear condemnation of Israeli atrocities against the Palestineans in Gaza.