ICC Board rejects Bangladesh’s request to relocate their World Cup matches

By Alam Zeb Safi
LAHORE: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rejected Bangladesh’s request to relocate its matches from India during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, following an emergency meeting of the ICC Board in Dubai.
According to media reports Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) was given a 24-hour deadline to confirm whether the team would participate in the tournament scheduled to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.
Only two members of the 16-member ICC Board supported Bangladesh’s position that its matches should be moved out of India due to security concerns.
The overwhelming majority voted against the proposal, effectively leaving Bangladesh with a decision to either take part under the existing arrangements or withdraw from the event.
The decision has placed Bangladesh’s participation in doubt. If the BCB fails to confirm its involvement within the stipulated time, Scotland is expected to be considered as a replacement team for the global tournament.
Following the meeting, the ICC issued a statement reaffirming its stance, saying the decision was based on extensive security evaluations.
“The decision was taken after considering all security assessments conducted, including independent reviews, all of which indicated there was no threat to Bangladesh players, media personnel, officials or fans at any of the tournament venues in India,” the ICC said.
An ICC spokesperson also rejected attempts by the BCB to link security concerns to the exclusion of Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“Over the past several weeks, the ICC has engaged with the BCB in sustained and constructive dialogue with the clear objective of enabling Bangladesh’s participation in the tournament,” the spokesperson said.
“During this period, the ICC shared detailed inputs, including independent security assessments, comprehensive venue-level security plans and formal assurances from the host authorities, all of which consistently concluded that there is no credible or verifiable threat to the safety or security of the Bangladesh team in India.”
The spokesperson added that despite these efforts, the BCB continued to link its participation to what the ICC described as a single, isolated and unrelated issue.
“Despite these efforts, the BCB maintained its position, repeatedly linking its participation to a single, isolated and unrelated issue involving a player’s participation in a domestic league. This has no relevance to the tournament’s security framework or participation conditions,” the spokesperson said.
Bangladesh have been placed in Group C with England, Italy, Nepal and West Indies.