Pakistan and all stakeholders, including the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), have reached an agreement on the neutral venue for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Geo reported that there is a strong possibility that all stakeholders will agree on the neutral venue of Dubai, and a final decision is likely to be made soon.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is also expected to announce the schedule of the Champions Trophy soon, with Colombo also being seriously considered as the neutral venue.
A few days ago, the ICC approved a fusion plan on the issue of hosting the Champions Trophy, according to which Pakistan and India will not play matches in each other’s countries for three years, and the neutral venue for the Champions Trophy will be selected at the discretion of the host country.
ICC finally resolves Champions Trophy 2025 conflict
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has finally resolved the long-standing impasse over the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Under the agreement, India’s matches in the eight-team event will be played at a neutral venue, while in return, ICC events hosted by India will also be played at neutral venues.
According to the press release issued by the ICC, “The ICC Board has today approved that matches between India and Pakistan played at ICC Events during the current rights cycle from 2024 to 2027 (which are to be hosted in India or Pakistan) will be played at a neutral venue proposed by the tournament host. This will apply to the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (Pakistan), ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (India and Sri Lanka).”
“In addition, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. Cricket Australia has also been awarded hosting rights for one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031.”
“The match schedule for the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 will be confirmed in the coming days.”
Pakistan will host another ICC event after 4 years, in which Pakistan has been awarded the hosting of the 2028 Women’s T20 World Cup.
The 2028 Women’s T20 World Cup will be the first ICC event of the next cycle, and the Pakistan-India fusion formula may also be applied to the Women’s T20 World Cup.
According to the report, in addition to this, until 2027, both teams will play ICC event matches in each other’s country at neutral venues, and the host board will select the neutral venue.
India is hosting the Women’s World Cup 2025 and the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
The cricket website report states that the ICC Board will formally approve the agreement between Pakistan and India.
The ICC has also agreed to a proposal for a tri-nation T20 series involving Pakistan, India and any other Asian full-member or associate-member team.
The series will also be held at a neutral venue, a proposal that has been put forward as compensation for Pakistan not being able to host India’s matches in the 2025 Champions Trophy.