Reports: ICC provides special 'exception' for Pakistan over unready Champions Trophy venues

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had provided January 25, as the final date to make the Champions Trophy 2025 venues match ready. The tournament is scheduled to commence on February 19, and several videos of the stadiums surfacing on social media depict the under-construction nature of the grounds. These videos have raised concerns over the timely delivery of the grounds. 

The norm of handing over the venues to the International Cricket Council (ICC) is three weeks before any event. But with almost 15 days before the first game of the Champions Trophy, the readiness of the grounds is being questioned. According to NDTV Sports, has made an 'exception' to the general norm of ‘exclusivity period’ for Pakistan ahead of the Champions Trophy.

The three stadiums chosen to host the Champions Trophy 2025 are Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi. Before the impending event, PCB will host a tri-series in Lahore and Karachi, from February 8-14 involving Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand, respectively.

PCB has followed process, ICC has authorised for testing of venues: Source

Besides, Dubai is currently hosting the ILT20 2025 matches where Team India will be playing their Champions Trophy games on a hybrid basis. The venues will only be handed right after the Tri-Nation Series, this is one week before the curtain raiser and Dubai will be available as a neutral venue by February 10.

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"Hosts may seek approval from ICC for activities to take place in venues within the exclusivity window, PCB has followed the process and the ICC has authorised this for the exclusivity period for testing of the venues. Similarly, Dubai Stadium is also being used during the exclusivity period for the ILT20. Following several inspection visits across all venues, the ICC is satisfied that they are on track for the ICC Men's Champions Trophy,” a source was quoted as saying by NDTV.