ICC postpones Men's T20 World Cup in Australia due to COVID-19 pandemic
The IBC Board will also keep evaluating the COVID-19 situation for staging the ICC Women's World Cup 2021 in New Zealand as per schedule next year.
The COVID-19 debacle has disrupted all major sporting events across the world. The pandemic has forced many cricket boards to push or cancel many global events. ICC, in the wake of ongoing coronavirus pandemic, confirmed on Monday that the Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia 2020 has been postponed.
The showpiece event was slated to commence from October in Australia this year. However, in the meeting of the IBC Board (the commercial subsidiary of the ICC), the tournament was pushed further amid the pandemic.
The coronavirus positive cases have crossed the 14 million mark across the world and it would’ve certainly been an arduous task to host a global extravaganza in such a stern situation. Moreover, windows for the next three ICC men’s events were also agreed in the meeting.
The windows for the men’s events are– 1. ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 will be held October – November 2021 with the final on 14 November 2021, 2. ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 will be held October – November 2022 with the final on 13 November 2022, and 3. ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held in India October – November 2023 with the final on 26 November 2023.
Our number one priority has been to protect the health and safety of everyone: ICC CEO Manu Sawhney
Considering the effect of COVID-19 on the cricket scenario, the IBC board agreed to keep tracking the situation for staging global events successfully in 2021 and 2022. The IBC Board will also keep evaluating the COVID-19 situation for staging the ICC Women’s World Cup 2021 in New Zealand as per schedule next year.
“We have undertaken a comprehensive and complex contingency planning exercise and through this process, our number one priority has been to protect the health and safety of everyone involved in the sport,” said ICC ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney.
“The decision to postpone the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was taken after careful consideration of all of the options available to us and gives us the best possible opportunity of delivering two safe and successful T20 World Cups for fans around the world,” he added.
Meanwhile, reports have suggested that the much-anticipated IPL 2020 is likely to be played in the UAE between September and November this year. A final decision will be taken by the BCCI as the postponement of the T20 World Cup 2020 has now left the window open for the Indian board.
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