NEW DELHI: The T20 World Cup is set to be shifted to the United Arab Emirates due to the COVID-19 situation in India.
The Indian cricket board will inform the International Cricket Council (ICC) about its decision to shift the tournament to the UAE in its next meeting.
Three venues in UAE – Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai – will host the T20 World Cup games, with Oman hosting the qualifiers. The tournament is likely to start on October 17 and the final on November 14.
The BCCI wanted to host the T20 World Cup in India but two issues came in the way. It is learnt that they didn’t get any tax exemption from the Indian government.
The BCCI is also unsure about how keen international players would be to return to India after the IPL was suspended due to coronavirus cases.
During a virtual meeting with all state associations a few weeks ago, the board members were informed by BCCI office-bearers that by shifting T20 World Cup to UAE , the board will save around 41 percent of total earnings.
The BCCI hadn’t received tax exemptions when they hosted T20 World Cup in 2016. The BCCI had already planned UAE as backup, with Oman to host the qualifiers.
Abu Dhabi hosted the remaining 20 matches of the Pakistan Super League, including Thursday’s final, after the Pakistan Cricket Board was forced to suspend the league in March.
World governing body ICC had set a June 28 deadline for the BCCI to take a decision on hosting the tournament. The Indian board will retain hosting rights for the event regardless of where the tournament is played.
