The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed their decision to move the forthcoming Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 out from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates. The governing body reached a conclusion regarding the venue change after a board meeting held virtually on Tuesday, August 20. The tournament will begin on October 3 and end on 20 across the two venues in the UAE – Dubai and Sharjah. The opening match will be played between England and South Africa.
Due to the ongoing protest in Bangladesh, the ICC board members decided that the country is not able to host the mega event. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) concurred with the ICC’s decision to move the tournament, though Bangladesh will still be recognized as the official host. Notably, Bangladesh’s newly formed government made a last-ditch effort through the United Nations to secure the event, but it was unsuccessful. In addition, countries such as Australia, India, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have already issued travel advisories against traveling to Bangladesh.
“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.
“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.
“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,” he added.
The UAE has emerged as a major cricket hub in recent years, having hosted several major tournaments, including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2021 as co-host alongside Oman. The country has top-notch facilities and infrastructure and it is surely a well-suited venue to host the Women’s T20 World Cup.
