The Asia Cup, scheduled to begin on August 27, has been moved from Sri Lanka to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Asian Cricket Council announced on Wednesday. Sri Lanka Cricket, however, will retain hosting rights for the tournament.
Cricket Age had exclusively published today afternoon itself about the ACC decision to give Asia Cup hosting to UAE.
“Considering the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, the ACC after extensive deliberation has unanimously concluded that it would be appropriate to relocate the tournament from Sri Lanka to the UAE,” the ACC said in a statement.
“Every effort was made to host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the decision to shift the venue to the UAE was taken after much deliberation. The UAE will be the new venue while Sri Lanka will continue to retain hosting rights,” ACC president Jay Shah was quoted as saying.
“We were really looking forward to hosting our Asian neighbours in Sri Lanka for the much-anticipated Asia Cup. While I fully stand by the ACC’s decision to shift the Asia Cup to UAE considering the current context and the magnitude of the event, Sri Lanka Cricket will work closely with the ACC and Emirates Cricket Board to ensure that we still have an exciting edition of the Asia Cup,” Sri Lanka Cricket President Shammi Silva said.
“The Emirates Cricket Board takes great pride in UAE being named the new venue for the Asia Cup. The ECB is always ready to help fellow Member Boards and the ACC and Sri Lanka Cricket have our full support. We have the required infrastructure in place and look forward to welcoming the teams to the UAE,” said Emirates Cricket Board vice-chairman Khalid Al Zarooni.
The T20 tournament will be played from August 27 to September 11.
