Asia cup postponed; to be held in June 2021

10 Jul, 2020

Editor

The ACC announced the decision to postpone the Asia cup to June 2021

10 Jul, 2020 By Editor

Following weeks of speculation, the Asian Cricket Council(ACC) has finally announced that the 2020 edition of the Asia cup stands cancelled. The tournament was tentatively scheduled for September and was to be hosted by Sri Lanka after Pakistan had swapped hosting rights in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ACC is now hoping for a June 2021 window to host the tournament.

"The Executive Board of the ACC has met on multiple occasions to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Asia Cup tournament scheduled in September 2020," read the ACC press release. "From the onset, the Board was keen on organizing the tournament as per the original schedule. However, travel restrictions, country-specific quarantine requirements, threat to fundamental health, and social distancing mandates have posed substantial challenges to the holding of the Asia Cup.”

ACC in their press release reiterated the priority being the safety of everyone involved and added, "Above all, the risks related to health and safety of participating players, support staff, commercial partners, fans and the cricketing community were deemed to be significant. Accordingly, the Board, after careful consideration of all the above factors, has determined that the Asia Cup 2020 be postponed.

As of now, June 2021 seems to be the desired window for the next edition of the Asia cup according to the ACC. ”Conducting the event in a responsible manner remains the priority of the ACC and the Board is hopeful that the tournament will be held in 2021. The ACC is currently working towards securing June 2021 as a suitable window for the same,” the governing body said in their statement.

"It may also be noted that the hosts for the Asia Cup 2020, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), have exchanged hosting rights for the tournament with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). Through this arrangement, The SLC will now host the rescheduled Asia Cup expected in June 2021 while the PCB will host the Asia Cup 2022," the ACC stated.

[Cricbuzz inputs]