Women’s T20 World Cup relocated after political turmoil

The United Arab Emirates will host the Women’s T20 World Cup in October after the International Cricket Council (ICC) moved the tournament from Bangladesh.
The decision to relocate the tournament comes after more than 300 people were killed in an uprising in Bangladesh that began in July and resulted in the ousting of prime minister Sheikh Hasina at the start of the month.
Games for the 10-team tournament will now take place across two venues in the UAE, Dubai and Sharjah — from October 3-20 — the sport’s governing body announced on Tuesday.
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ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice said it was “a shame not to be hosting the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh”.
Australia’s women’s cricket team at the Women’s T20 World Cup South Africa 2023. Getty
“I would like to thank the team at the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for exploring all avenues to try and enable the event to be hosted in Bangladesh, but travel advisories from the governments of a number of the participating teams meant that wasn’t feasible.
“However, they will retain hosting rights. We look forward to taking an ICC global event to Bangladesh in the near future.”
Allardice also thanked the Emirates Cricket Board for “stepping in to host on behalf of the BCB”.
Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe were also thanked for their “generous offers of support”.
India had already refused an offer from the ICC to replace Bangladesh as host.
Last week, Indian cricket board secretary Jay Shah said the nation “flatly refused” to take ownership of the tournament, with the country set to host next year’s Women’s ODI World Cup.
Earlier this week, Australian captain Alyssa Healy acknowledged that playing the World Cup in Bangladesh would be “hard to fathom” with an interim government installed to stabilise the civil unrest.
“I’d find it hard to fathom playing there at the moment, as a human being, I feel like it might be the wrong thing to do,” she said.
“[That would be] taking resources away from a country that is really struggling. They need everyone they can possibly get in there to help people that are dying.
“There’s obviously bigger factors at play than putting a cricket tournament on in Bangladesh at the moment.”
Australia has won six of the tournament’s previous eight editions, including the last three competitions.
The side’s campaign is scheduled to kick off on October 4 with their match against Sri Lanka.
Alongside Oman, the UAE also took over hosting duties for the men’s T20 World Cup in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the tournament to be moved from India.