BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has said that the upcoming T20 World Cup may be shifted out of India with the UAE being considered as the likely alternative venue.
This, according to Shah, was in view of the COVID situation in India, which recently bore the brunt of the second wave of the pandemic.
“Due to the COVID situation in the country, we may shift the T20 World Cup scheduled in India to UAE. We are monitoring the situation closely. Health and safety of players are paramount for us. We will take the final call soon,” Jay Shah told news agency ANI.
Due to the COVID situation in the country, we may shift the T20 World Cup scheduled in India to UAE. We are monitoring the situation closely. Health and safety of players are paramount for us. We will take the final call soon: BCCI Secretary, Jay Shah to ANI
(File pic) pic.twitter.com/Sqz77E5BkC
— ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2021
Earlier, the BCCI had announced that it would hold the remaining IPL matches in the UAE. The statement by the BCCI had said, “The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced to complete the remaining matches of VIVO Indian Premier League 2021 season in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) considering the monsoon season in India in the months of September-October this year.”
A report by the Indian Express said that three venues in the UAE namely Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai may host the T20 World Cup games, with Oman hosting the qualifiers. The cricket extravaganza may start from 7 October and culminate on 14 November.
According to reports, two reasons why the BCCI is keen on not holding the World Cup in India are the government’s refusal to give tax exemption to the event and international players’ apprehensions on travelling to India in view of the recent pandemic, which left hundreds of thousands of people dead.