West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) rejected the proposed tour to Pakistan, citing the security concerns being raised by the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA), espncricinfo reported on Thursday.

The development surfaced after the FICA termed the risk level in Pakistan "at an extremely elevated state". The FICA report went on to say, "an acceptable level of participant security and safety cannot be expected or guaranteed".

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had invited WICB for a tour to play two T20s as a precondition in response to another invitation by West Indies asking Pakistan to play two T20 matches in Florida, United States.

Subsequently, “earlier this week the West Indies Players Association wrote to FICA, seeking advice on the current security situation in Pakistan. FICA reportedly gave WIPA the latest security advisory from its security consultants, Eastern Star International,” said the report.

PCB, however, had rejected the FICA advisory in a strong manner, prompting the FICA to issue a clarification, saying that the advisory was based on the findings of Eastern Star International.

“The two boards, however, continue to discuss the possibility of two T20 internationals in Florida on March 19 and 20,” the report added.

“FICA's report on player safety and security strongly discouraged players from travelling to Lahore for the Pakistan Super League final, scheduled for March 5. According to the proposal, Lahore was likely to host the two matches on March 18 and 19, followed by two matches in Florida, which are still being discussed and are likely to go ahead.”

Earlier, this week, PCB had stated in reaction to the advisory, “FICA’s claim that “westerners and luxury hotels have been attacked” is contrary to the facts on the ground which prove that not a single foreigner or hotel has been attacked in Lahore in the last five years.

“FICA’s claim that “targeted attacks” are predicted to continue is belied by the fact that Lahore is the show piece of the government that has secured the services of UK-based “safe city” security project,” the PCB further said.

“PCB has hosted Kenya, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh (women’s team), Afghanistan and Malaysian cricket teams in Lahore and Karachi without any problem or untoward incident. In the case of holding the PSL final in Lahore for one day, the government has guaranteed protection by over 3000 army and police personnel in Lahore. PCB will provide armored buses for travel along with VVIP security protocols.

“It may also be noted that a group of notable foreign players including Jonty Rhodes, Brian Lara, Curtly Ambrose, Glenn McGrath, Dean Jones, Mark Butcher, Marvin Atapattu, Herschelle Gibbs, Damien Martyn, Andy Roberts, Danny Morrison, Sanath Jayasuriya, Andrew Symonds, Ajay Jadeja, Robin Smith, Cameron Delport and others are regular visitors to Pakistan on assignments with PTV and are available to vouchsafe the safety and security of foreign cricketers in the country,” added the press statement.

“PSL has already received confirmation from top international players to play in Lahore and the PCB is determined to bring international cricket back to Pakistan.”