ICC shifts Women's T20 World Cup from trouble-torn Bangladesh to UAE

New Delhi, Aug 20: The highly-anticipated ninth edition of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup will now take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) continuing to host the event. The ICC confirmed that the tournament will now be held by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) in UAE because many countries have expressed concern over security because of travel advisories by their respective governments following political turmoil in the country.

“It is a shame not to be hosting the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh as we know the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) would have staged a memorable event,” ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said in a statement.

The reason behind the late change in plans by the International Cricket Council (ICC) is the state of unrest in Bangladesh with violence and cases of fatalities emerging every day after the takeover by a new government in the country.

The tournament will now take place across the two venues in the UAE – Dubai and Sharjah – from October 3 to 20 this year.

“I would like to thank the team at the BCB for exploring all avenues to try and enable the event to be hosted in Bangladesh, but travel advisories from the governments of a number of the participating teams meant that wasn’t feasible. However, they will retain hosting rights. We look forward to taking an ICC global event to Bangladesh in the near future,” it further added.

The UAE, home to the ICC headquarters, has become a significant hub for cricket in recent years, hosting numerous qualifier tournaments as well as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2021 alongside Oman.

With its world-class facilities and infrastructure, the UAE is well-equipped to stage the Women’s T20 World Cup. The country's growing prominence in the sport is reflected in the rise of both its men’s and women’s teams, each currently ranked 16th in the ICC T20I Team Rankings.

“I’d also like to thank the Emirates Cricket Board for stepping in to host on behalf of the BCB and Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe for their generous offers of support, and we look forward to seeing ICC global events in both of those countries in 2026,” concluded the statement.