The men’s T20 World Cup that is scheduled for October-November in India will be played in the UAE, after the BCCI communicated that it will not be able to host the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We have officially intimated the ICC that the T20 World Cup can be shifted to the United Arab Emirates. The details are being chalked out," BCCI president Sourav Ganguly told PTI.
The tournament is expected to start soon after the IPL which is likely to end on 15 October, Cricinfo reported earlier in the week.
The T20 World Cup will commence on 17 October and run till 14 November in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to a report. Some of the initial matches will be played in Oman.
Earlier in June, the ICC had afforded the BCCI a 4-week window to take a final call on whether they would be able to host the event considering the COVID-19 situation in the country.
Last week, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah hinted that the coronavirus situation in India could result in the World Cup being moved out.
“Due to the COVID-19 situation in our country, we may shift the tournament to UAE. We are monitoring the situation closely, the health and safety of players are paramount we will take a final call soon," Shah was quoted as saying by ANI.
It has been learnt that the BCCI also failed to guarantee tax exemption to ICC.
A source aware of the developments told IANS, "The BCCI had filed application for tax exemption but there was no intimation from the [finance] ministry on it."
The BCCI would have had to pay a minimum of Rs 227 crore and a maximum of Rs 906 crore to the ICC on failure to get exemption.
The Board had already missed a few deadlines over the past one-and-a-half years to guarantee exemption.
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