MUMBAI: The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Tuesday shifted the 2018 Asia Cup from India to the United Arab Emirates as the BCCI could not secure permission from the Union government to host Pakistan.
The decision was taken following a meeting of the executive board of the Asian Cricket Council held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“The ACC board unanimously approved the staging of Asia Cup 2018 in the UAE between September 13 and 28. India will be hosting the upcoming marquee event of Asia in Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” the ACC announced in an official statement.
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the winner of Asia Cup qualifier will compete in the ODI format event.
The ACC board also agreed that some matches of Emerging Teams Asia Cup will be played in Pakistan and the majority of the tournament (more so where Team India is playing) will be hosted by Sri Lanka.
“The UAE will be facilitating the organisation but all the other modalities remain same. Star Sports will be broadcasting the tournament and the gate money (collection from tickets and in stadia) will be BCCI’s. Obviously, the BCCI will be paying the Emirates Cricket Board a facilitation fee,” an Indian cricket board official told The Telegraph.
The reason for zeroing in on UAE is purely logistical. “India wouldn’t have played in Pakistan. But UAE is one place where there is a sizeable population from India, Pakistan and even Afghanistan,” the official added.
Though the “default setting” for the PCB when it comes to hosting international teams, it is quite an unusual situation for India, as hosts, to be staging a multi-nation tournament in some other country.
It is worth noting though that two editions of the Indian Premier League had been played outside India (in South Africa and the UAE), but that was more about logistical exigencies.
The BCCI was represented by its CEO Rahul Johri, who placed the request during the meeting chaired by Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi.
“Johri apprised the ACC board of the current situation. The BCCI has got a clearance that they can play Pakistan at a neutral venue. While it is a given for ICC tournaments, Asia Cup being an ACC tournament needed a government approval. Once the approval to allow Indian team play Pakistan at a neutral venue was agreed upon, the board’s request was placed,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
He agreed that in current scenario, chances of hosting Pakistan was next to nil.
“Since this is not World Cup, Champions Trophy or World T20, it was a foregone conclusion that the government would not approve BCCI hosting Pakistan in prevailing circumstances. The public sentiment needs to be respected,” the official said.
ACC statement in full:
Summary of executive board meeting of the Asian Cricket Council
A meeting of the executive board of the Asian Cricket Council was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The directors discussed a number of issues pertaining to the development of Asian cricket at the meeting.
Summary of the key decisions is as follows:-
· The ACC board unanimously approved the staging of Asia Cup 2018 in the U.A.E between September 13th-28th, 2018. India will be hosting the upcoming marquee event of Asia in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
· India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the winner of Asia Cup qualifier will compete in the one-day format event.
· The ACC board also agreed that some matches of Emerging Teams Asia Cup will be played in Pakistan and the majority of the tournament will be hosted by Sri Lanka. The modalities will be worked out and shared in due course of time.
· ACC board also proposed to have AGM 2018 in Lahore, Pakistan
