The Asia Cup 2022 will be played in the UAE after the tournament was moved out of Sri Lanka due to the ongoing economic crisis in the country. Sri Lanka will be the host of the competition this year, but the tournament will go ahead in the UAE. The schedule for the tournament has been announced, and in the opener, Sri Lanka will play against Afghanistan, while India will take on Pakistan on 28 August.
“He felt that the situation in Sri Lanka was not conducive to gain the confidence of the stakeholders. Not only the Member States, but a tournament of this magnitude requires other stakeholders, such as broadcasters, sponsors, etc.,” ESPNcricinfo quoted SLC secretary Mohan de Silva as saying during a media briefing,
“What they realized was that the negative publicity shown with petrol queues around the world did not help our cause,” he said.
Speaking further about the Asia Cup, SEL CEO Ashley de Silva said: “Sponsors were finding it difficult to obtain insurance, and security clearance was also an issue for the broadcasting crew to enter Sri Lanka. Joe Delegates wanted to come from other countries. They were also not ready to come.”
Earlier, announcing the move of the Asia Cup from Sri Lanka to the United Arab Emirates, Asian Cricket Council President Jay Shah said: “Given the current situation in Sri Lanka, the ACC has unanimously concluded after extensive deliberations that it would be appropriate to move the tournament from Sri Lanka to the UAE,” the ACC said in a statement. “Every effort was made to host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the decision to move the venue to the UAE was taken after much deliberation. The UAE will be the new venue while Sri Lanka will retain the hosting rights.”
“We were really looking forward to hosting our Asian neighbors in Sri Lanka for the much-awaited Asia Cup. While I fully stand by the ACC’s decision to move the Asia Cup to the UAE, given the current context and the magnitude of the event, I am, Sri Lanka Cricket will work closely with the ACC and Emirates Cricket Board to ensure that we still have an exciting edition of the Asia Cup,” Sri Lanka Cricket chief Shammi Silva said.
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The T20 tournament will be played from August 27 to September 11.
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