The Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) request to move its team’s T20 World Cup matches to Sri Lanka was denied by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday. The ICC stated that the matches would go ahead as planned because there was no real risk to the safety of Bangladeshi players, officials, or spectators at any of the tournament venues in India.
The BCB voiced concerns and requested a venue change, so the ICC Board conducted a video conference to review the situation and make the decision.
“The ICC Board noted that relocating matches under the present circumstances could jeopardise the sanctity of ICC events and undermine the organisation’s neutrality as a global governing body,” the ICC said in a statement.
The ICC claims that after reviewing several security assessments, including independent appraisals, the Board came to the conclusion that there was no real threat to Bangladesh cricketers.
According to ICC sources, 14 of the 16 members voted against BCB’s bid to relocate. The ICC has granted BCB one additional day to consider and make a decision.
“Of all the members, only BCB and Pakistan voted in favour of the relocation request while all other voted against it. Bangladesh was given time till January 21 to confirm its participation but they have been given one more day by the ICC Board to state their position,” a PTI report quoted a ICC source as saying.
Additionally, the ICC stated that it was not possible to adjust the schedule at this late stage and that doing so without a validated security concern could create a “undesirable precedent” for future international events.
The international governing body stated that its administration had communicated in-depth details about the tournament’s security procedures in a number of meetings and letters with the BCB in recent weeks.
These included plans tailored to the location and guarantees of multi-layered security including both state and federal law enforcement. In order to guarantee Bangladesh’s participation in the competition, the ICC conducted “sustained and constructive dialogue” with the BCB, according to an ICC official.
“Independent security assessments, comprehensive venue-level security plans and formal assurances from host authorities consistently concluded that there is no credible or verifiable threat to the safety or security of the Bangladesh team in India,” PTI quoted the spokesperson as saying.
However, the ICC voiced worry that the BCB persisted in connecting its involvement to what it called a “single, isolated and unrelated development” regarding one of its players’ participation in a domestic league. The ICC claimed that this issue had no influence on the security framework of the tournament.
The Board reaffirmed that objective threat assessments, host guarantees, and agreed-upon participation terms—which are applicable to all 20 teams in the competition—are the guiding principles for venue and scheduling decisions.
“In the absence of any independent security findings that materially compromise safety, the ICC is unable to relocate fixtures. Doing so would carry significant logistical and scheduling consequences for other teams and fans worldwide, and would also create far-reaching precedent-related challenges that risk undermining the neutrality, fairness, and integrity of ICC governance,” the spokesperson said.
A final 24-hour window has been granted to the BCB to inform the ICC of its stance and provide clarification on whether it has government approval to travel to India for the competition.
According to the current standings, Scotland is anticipated to replace Bangladesh in Group C if they withdraw. Scotland finished behind the Netherlands, Italy and Jersey in the European qualifications, but missed out on qualifying for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
The meeting was attended by Jay Shah, the chairman of the ICC, as well as representatives from a number of member boards.
BCB president Aminul Islam, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, SLC president Shammi Silva, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird, Zimbabwe Cricket president Tavenga Mukuhlani, CWI president Kishore Shallow, Cricket Ireland chair Brian MacNeice, New Zealand Cricket representative Roger Twose, ECB chair Richard Thompson, Cricket South Africa representative Mohammed Moosajee, and Afghanistan Cricket Board chairman Mirwais Ashraf were among those in attendance.
