Women’s T20 World Cup moved from Bangladesh due to civil unrest

The Women’s T20 World Cup has been moved to the United Arab Emirates from Bangladesh following violent protests in the scheduled host nation, the International Cricket Council has announced.

Student-led anti-government demonstrations and continuing civil unrest saw Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina resign and flee to self-exile in India.

Over 400 people have been killed in Bangladesh during weeks of student-led protests, which started as a demonstration against quotas in civil service jobs.

Given the security concerns, the governing body the ICC said the T20 World Cup, set to run from October 3-20, will instead take place across two venues in the UAE - Dubai and Sharjah - with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) continuing to retain hosting rights.

ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice said: “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.

“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.

“I’d also like to thank the Emirates Cricket Board for stepping in to host on behalf of the BCB.

“However, they will retain hosting rights. We look forward to taking an ICC global event to Bangladesh in the near future.”

England and Scotland have both qualified for the 10-nation tournament, and were drawn together in Group B, with their fixture initially set to be the final one of the opening stage on October 14.

The previous edition of the tournament was held in South Africa in February 2023, and Australia went on to win their sixth title, beating the hosts by 19 runs.