Toronto Mayor invites Pakistan’s Afridi to promote cricket in Canada

Toronto Mayor John Tory has invited Pakistan's cricket star Shahid Afridi in an effort to make cricket popular in the multi-cultural city and elsewhere in Canada.

"This is a great honour for me to be here,” Afridi said as he stood with Tory and Councillor Neethan Shan on Thursday at the city hall. 

"This is my fourth trip to Toronto. Such a beautiful country, such a beautiful city."

Afridi took over as captain of the Pakistan national cricket team in 2009 and has been named Man of the Match 32 times, the most of any Pakistani player.

Toronto is the most multicultural city in Canada with a large number of immigrants from South Asian origin where cricket is one of the most popular sports.

According to Statistics Canada, the province of Ontario is the home to 62% of all Canadians of South Asian origin, while another 22% lived in British Columbia.

"We look forward to taking you up on your offer of some help with our young people and others who are interested in cricket, because I know you'll be a powerful influence on them and a positive influence and we really appreciate that," Mayor Tory told Afridi.

This trip to Toronto follows Afridi's February announcement that he has retired from the sport on the international stage, but he continues to promote cricket internationally off the field, the CBC News reported.

"Your participation in this visit is actually making that push, and that momentum grows for us to bring more cricket and more international cricket, as well as more cricket facilities for … young men and young women who play this beautiful sport," Coun. Shan, who helped organised the trip told Afridi.

Toronto is one of the megacities with 5.5 million population where over 140 languages and dialects are spoken.

“Cricket was once declared as Canada's national sport by Sir John A Macdonald and Mayor Tory has recognised an increase in interest in the sport across the city.”

"The game itself has been exploding in Toronto regarding the interest and participation of young people," Tory said. "We're left to think about how we can best use his time and talents to (help kids inspired by him)."

The cricket star is also in the city to introduce Canadians to the Shahid Afridi Foundation, which supports impoverished communities in Pakistan.

 "I want to do something here for cricket and some noble causes as well," Afridi said, according to CBC News.

Pepsi Pulls Ad Accused of Trivializing Black Lives Matter

Pepsi has apologized for a controversial advertisement that borrowed imagery from the Black Lives Matter movement, after a day of intense criticism from people who said it trivialized the widespread protests against the killings of black people by the police.

“Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly, we missed the mark and apologize,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday. “We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are pulling the content and halting any further rollout.”

The ad, posted to YouTube on Tuesday, shows attractive young people holding milquetoast signs with nonspecific pleas like “Join the conversation.” The protesters are uniformly smiling, laughing, clapping, hugging and high-fiving.

In the ad’s climactic scene, a police officer accepts a can of Pepsi from Kendall Jenner, a white woman, setting off raucous approval from the protesters and an appreciative grin from the officer.

It was, current activists say, precisely the opposite of their real-world experience of protesting police brutality.

In torrid criticism after the ad was posted, commentators on social media accused Pepsi of appropriating imagery from serious protests to sell its product, while minimizing the danger protesters encounter and the frustration they feel.

Elle Hearns, the executive director of the Marsha P. Johnson Institute and formerly an organizer for Black Lives Matter, said the ad “plays down the sacrifices people have historically taken in utilizing protests.”

“No one is finding joy from Pepsi at a protest,” she said. “That’s just not the reality of our lives. That’s not what it looks like to take bold action.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Pepsi at first said the ad, which was produced by an in-house studio, “captures the spirit and actions of those people that jump in to every moment.”

To many who saw the ad, it was a tone-deaf note. Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, was among those who drew the connection to past protests.