The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday called a board meeting on November 29 to deliberate on the future of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to be hosted in Pakistan in February-March next year.
The meeting will be held online, and all board members have been provided with the agenda, an ICC spokesperson confirmed to Pakistan’s Geo TV.
The news channel, quoting sources close to the developments, reports that the future of the tournament will be discussed at the meeting in the wake of the refusal by world cricket’s financial powerhouse India to tour Pakistan for the tournament.
There will reportedly by three options up for discussion – adopting a hybrid model (which India has been pushing), relocating the event entirely (in case the Pakistan Cricket Board refuses to budge in its opposition to the hybrid model option), or postponing the tournament.
The board comprises 12 full members, three associate members, and one independent director.
ICC to convince PCB for hybrid model with extra incentives
Meanwhile, per reports coming out in the Indian media, the ICC is planning to offer the PCB extra monetary incentives to persuade them to hold the Champions Trophy in a hybrid model to break the impasse.
The PCB on its part has reportedly proposed that even under a hybrid model, key matches such as the India-Pakistan group-stage clash and the final should be held in Lahore. This demand has faced stiff opposition from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which insists that India’s matches, including a potential final, be held in Dubai.
