Coronavirus impact: ACC meeting to decide Asia Cup venue postponed

Sourav Ganguly

A decision on the Asia Cup's venue will have to wait as the upcoming Asian Cricket Council meeting has been postponed after a few members, including BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, refused to travel to Dubai due to the coronavirus threat. The ACC meeting was scheduled to be held in Dubai on Tuesday but with the UAE reporting over 700 cases over the last few days, it had to be postponed till the end of this month.

"Ganguly was supposed to leave tonight but the coronavirus scare in the UAE has led to the postponement of the meeting," a BCCI source told PTI in Kolkata. The BCCI chief and secretary Jay Shah were to attend the meeting. A Pakistan Cricket Board source added, "The chairman of the PCB, Ehsan Mani, is already in Dubai but CEO Wasim Khan didn't fly out on Sunday."

On Friday, Ganguly had said the next Asia Cup will be held in Dubai, paving the way for both India and Pakistan to participate in the continental tournament. However, Mani promptly insisted that no final decision had been taken on the same. Pakistan was the designated hosts for the tournament scheduled for September, but with the BCCI making it clear that the Indian team would not be able to travel to the neighbouring country owing to security concerns, the organisers got down to exploring other options, one of which was hosting it in Dubai.

Another PCB source said that Mani will have talks with the Emirates Cricket Board officials to find out if they were prepared to host the tournament in September.