The International Cricket Council confirmed on Tuesday that the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 will be moved from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates following nation-wide anti-government protests in Bangladesh.
The event, scheduled to take place from October 3 to 20, will now be staged in Dubai and Sharjah.
The ICC had to relocate the venue as a result of the agitations that took place in July and early August, which ended when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned.
An interim government has been established since then, but there have been reports of destruction, looting, and violence in Bangladesh.
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 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. However, they will retain hosting rights. We look forward to taking an ICC global event to Bangladesh in the near future.
“I’d also like to thank the Emirates Cricket Board for stepping in to host on behalf of the BCB and Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe for their generous offers of support, and we look forward to seeing ICC global events in both of those countries in 2026.”
The Australian women's cricket team will start their campaign as the three-time reigning champions. The only other teams to have won the women's T20 world Cup are England, which won the inaugural edition in 2009, and the West Indies, who won in 2016.
