BREAKING NOW: ICC Cancels Champions Trophy Tour in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir

Published On: November 15, 2024 11:14 am

The Champions Trophy trophy tour in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) has been canceled by the ICC in Skardu, Murree, and Muzaffarabad. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued a pronouncement the day before, and this decision was a prompt reaction to it. The ICC acted quickly when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) voiced concerns over the visit.

Key Points

The ICC has canceled the Champion Trophy tour in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The tour that was scheduled to take place in Skardu, Murree, and Muzaffarabad has been canceled.

ICC acts quickly on tour in response to BCCI’s complaints.

The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy trophy trip in Skardu, Murree, and Muzaffarabad—all of which are located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)—has been canceled by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The decision was made soon after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) immediately objected to the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) announcement that these towns would be included in the tour schedule. Notably, from November 16 to 24, the PCB has scheduled a Champions Trophy trophy tour around the country.

The PCB planned the trophy trip in anticipation of the eight-team competition, which is scheduled to take place in Pakistan in February or March of 2025. But according to information obtained by India Today, the trophy trip has been canceled in the places that are located within Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir’s (POK) disputed territory.

In the meanwhile, India’s unwillingness to travel to Pakistan for the cricket competition has caused controversy surrounding the Champions Trophy 2025. In a letter to the ICC, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) asked for an explanation of India’s decision to not come to Pakistan for the competition. The PCB has asked for an explicit explanation of India’s position in its letter to the ICC. The event format and a possible hybrid model are not included in the Pakistani communication.

In a statement, the PCB affirmed that the ICC notified it of the BCCI’s ruling. The Pakistani government has reportedly received the PCB’s notification from the ICC and will decide what cricket do next. The Champions Trophy’s future is uncertain as a result of the PCB and BCCI’s impasse. In anticipation of the competition the following year, Pakistan has already set aside about 17 billion rupees to renovate stadiums in Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi.

Champions Trophy in danger for 2025

In the second week of November, the ICC was supposed to make the timetable announcement without confirming the locations. A provisional schedule for the Champions Trophy states that games would take place in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi between February 19 and March 9.

Since their most recent ODI and T20I series in India in 2012–13, India and Pakistan have not had bilateral cricket relations. India hasn’t been to Pakistan since the terrible 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai that year, and their previous trip there was for the Asia Cup in 2008.

Due to their unwillingness to go to Pakistan, India’s matches in the 2023 Asia Cup were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid format. Whether the Champions Trophy be staged in the same way or is moved entirely outside of Pakistan is still up in the air.