Desk Report,
Official announcement on Asia Cup in consultation with India
Finally, the annual general meeting of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) was held in Dhaka with all 25 members. The agenda of this meeting included the future of the next Asia Cup. However, ACC Chairman Mohsin Naqvi did not clarify anything about it despite repeated questions after the meeting.
Official announcement on Asia Cup in consultation with India
India is the host of this Asia Cup. However, if India or Pakistan hosts the Asia Cup, the game will be played at a neutral venue, this decision has been taken in advance. This year’s Asia Cup is scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates in September. However, Naqvi said that there are still some decisions to be made. A final announcement in this regard will be made after discussions with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), he said, “It (Asia Cup schedule) will be announced soon. We are consulting with the BCCI. Hopefully we can resolve it soon.” The Asia Cup is scheduled to be held in the UAE with 8 countries between September 10 and 28. However, this time may be a bit of a twist. The start will be in Abu Dhabi and the subsequent matches may be held in Dubai. When asked about this, Mohsin replied, ‘A formal announcement will come.’
There were also various complications with the AGM held in Dhaka. BCCI initially objected to organizing the ACC annual meeting in Bangladesh. In the end, however, BCCI also participated in the meeting online. While briefing journalists at the Intercontinental Hotel after the meeting, BCB President Mohsin Naqvi gave this credit to Aminul. Aminul, however, stopped him mid-sentence and said, ‘All about leadership. All the member countries have helped. Because we are all working for cricket.’ The ACC chief expressed his gratitude to Bangladesh for successfully organizing the annual meeting, ‘I am grateful to everyone who came here and joined online. I would like to thank Aminul Bhai for his and BCB’s hospitality, it has been an extraordinary two days. I want to tell them on behalf of the ACC that the way they have organised everything is amazing.’
The ACC chief also sees the BCCI’s non-attendance at the meeting in person as normal, ‘Some countries could not come to Dhaka. It always happens. I could not go to Singapore (for the ICC meeting). It is normal, most of the members have come. Some people could not come due to their busy schedules. The good thing for the ACC and the BCB is that everyone has participated.’ A source at the meeting told cricket website Cricbuzz that the BCCI is resolving some issues with its commercial partners. They are expected to make an official announcement about the Asia Cup in a few days. He said that nothing has been finalised about the Asia Cup, nor has there been any discussion about whether there will be an Asia Cup. However, everyone had a positive attitude towards the tournament. Although the ACC vice-president was to be elected at the meeting, it did not happen in the end.
The ACC said that 10 men’s teams and 8 women’s teams will participate in the Asian Games to be held in Japan in 2026 based on rankings.
In addition, the ACC also announced the admission of three new member countries: Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and the Philippines.
