The Asia Cup 2025 will commence in the UAE in just under two weeks but, the prelude has already been controversial. Sony Sports Network, the official broadcaster, published a promotion video, which focused on the India-Pakistan clash on September 14 in Dubai. Instead of generating excitement, the promo caused anger and the fans were outraged by the fact that Virender Sehwag featured in it and the BCCI was boycotted.
BCCI under fire for India-Pakistan Asia Cup participation
The opposition is based on the rising dissatisfaction because the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced the tournament schedule earlier this month. The BCCI had first shown reservations following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam which had heated things and caused a military standoff between India and Pakistan.
India even speculated that it may withdraw itself out of the Asia Cup with some even hinting that the competition itself would be canceled. That also held the cricketing fraternity in the tension until fixtures and venues were confirmed by the ACC, led by its chief Mohsin Naqvi.
India-Pakistan rivalry could dominate Asia Cup 2025
The announcement brought a stronger criticism especially since the schedule would expose India and Pakistan to the prospect of confronting each other as many as three times during the tournament. This was considered by many fans as the BCCI placing business and viewership in front of national sentiment.
140 crore dhadkanein ek saath dhadkegi apni #TeamIndia ke liye! 💙🇮🇳 Kyunki rag rag mein hain rang Bharat ka. 🇮🇳🔥
Dekhiye Asia Cup September 9 se Sony Sports Network ke TV Channels aur Sony LIV par!#RagRagMeinBharat #TeamIndia #AsiaCup #SonyLIV #SonySportsNetwork pic.twitter.com/SgCFONOm6n
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) August 22, 2025
The most notable one was the promotional video where Sehwag, the captain of T20I India Suryakumar Yadav, and Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi featured. It took the social media a comparatively short time to be overwhelmed with angry posts, fans promising never to tune into the broadcast again and the BCCI being accused of selling patriotism.
Sehwag saab proving ‘patriotism ends where advertisement money begins’. pic.twitter.com/8xLr25Gczm
— Navaldeep Singh (@NavalGeekSingh) August 26, 2025
The phrase Patriotism ends when money starts was repeated on the Internet, fans associated the decision with the financial motives.
Sports Ministry policy shapes India’s Asia Cup stance
Against the growing controversy, the Indian Sports ministry has recently made it clear that it has a policy about international sporting relations particularly with Pakistan. As it was outlined in the guidelines, bilateral events will still be suspended but India will still be involved in multilateral events like the Asia Cup.
“India’s approach to sports events involving Pakistan reflects its overall policy in dealing with that country,” the ministry stated. “In so far as bilateral sports events in each other’s country are concerned, Indian teams will not be participating in competitions in Pakistan. Nor will we permit Pakistani teams to play in India.”
With this decision, the BCCI was in a position to commit to the Asia Cup with the bilateral matches well in the air.
India-Pakistan cricket continues in multilateral events
A ministry source further underlined the approach by saying, “We will not stop Indian cricket team from playing in Asia Cup as it is multilateral.” He further stated that, bilateral competitions would not be hosted in India, but multilateral competitions would still be held under the Olympic Charter.
The scandal around the promo underlines the delicate equilibrium between the cricketing obligations, fan feelings and the geopolitical tensions. Although the Asia Cup 2025 will be filled with exciting action particularly when India and Pakistan might be on the verge of clashing with each other, the critique reveals how fragile the rivalry is outside the field.
