The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has officially informed the International Cricket Council (ICC) that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be the neutral venue for India’s matches in the upcoming Champions Trophy.
This decision follows a meeting between Sheikh Mubarak Al Nahyan, chairman of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), and Mohsin Naqvi, chairman of the PCB, which took place in Sanghar, Sindh, Pakistan.
Al Nahyan is currently on a tour of Pakistan.
With this agreement, Dubai is now nearly confirmed as the venue for the highly anticipated India-Pakistan match, which is likely to take place on February 23.
Although the UAE has two other international venues, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, Dubai was selected due to its size and capacity.
A PCB spokesman confirmed, “The PCB has chosen the UAE as the neutral venue and has formally informed the ICC.
Now, India and Pakistan’s Champions Trophy matches will be held in the UAE.”
The final decision was made after discussions between PCB and ECB leaders.
According to the ICC’s board policy, the host board has the discretion to choose a neutral venue for global events, which led the PCB to settle on the UAE after considering other options, including Sri Lanka.
On December 19, the ICC announced that it had approved the use of neutral venues for India-Pakistan matches in ICC events from 2024 to 2027.
The neutral venues will apply to the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (in Pakistan), ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (in India), and ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (in India and Sri Lanka).
With the neutral venue decision now finalized, the uncertainty surrounding the Champions Trophy has come to an end.
This paves the way for the final schedule of the eight-team competition, which will take place from February 19 to March 9.
The ICC is expected to announce the schedule on Monday.
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