ICC will determine Pakistan’s Champions Trophy future this Friday

The International Cricket Council (ICC) will convene this week to decide the fate of next year’s Champions Trophy after India declined to compete in host nation Pakistan, a spokesman announced on Tuesday.

Earlier in November, the ICC informed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that India would not travel to Pakistan for the eight-team tournament, throwing the event’s future into uncertainty.

An ICC spokesman based in Dubai confirmed to AFP that “an ICC meeting is scheduled for Friday” to address the matter, but provided no further details.

The PCB has rejected suggestions to allow India to play at a neutral venue, maintaining that the entire tournament, scheduled from February 19 to March 9, must be held in Pakistan.

India’s cricket board has remained silent regarding the tournament.

Due to strained political relations, arch-rivals India and Pakistan have not engaged in a bilateral cricket series for more than a decade, facing each other only in ICC multi-nation tournaments.

Pakistan endured a prolonged absence of international cricket on home soil after a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore, with teams refusing to tour the country.

Full-scale international cricket only returned to Pakistan in 2020.

During last year’s Asia Cup, hosted by Pakistan, India’s matches were held at neutral venues outside the country.

However, Pakistan’s cricket officials have dismissed security concerns surrounding the Champions Trophy, highlighting their successful hosting of major teams such as Australia, England, and South Africa in recent years.

If held as planned, the Champions Trophy would mark the first ICC event in Pakistan since the country co-hosted the 1996 World Cup alongside India and Sri Lanka.