ICC rejects Usman Khawaja's appeal against black armband sanction: report

Australia opener Usman Khawaja's appeal against the International Cricket Council's sanction for sporting a black armband during a game has been rejected, Sydney Morning Herald reported on Sunday.

The 37-year-old was had worn a black armband during the first Test versus Pakistan in Perth and had cited personal bereavement reasons behind the gesture.

The International Cricket Council had said that Khawaja did not take required permission from Cricket Australia or the ICC.

His decision to wear the armband came after his previous move to don shoes with slogans supporting war-hit Palestine were disallowed by the ICC.

As per the international organisation's rules, the sanction for a first offense is a reprimand.

ICC regulations prevent cricketers from displaying messages of political, religious or racial causes during international matches.

However, players can wear black armbands to mark deaths of former players, family members or other significant individuals after taking prior permission from the governing body.

After the reprimand Khawaja had said, 'I respect the ICC and all the regulations they have, I will be asking them and contesting them … From my point of view, that consistency hasn't been done yet. The shoes were for a different matter, I'm happy to say that, but the armband (reprimand) made no sense to me.'