Dubai, July 9: The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Thursday announced the postponement of the Asia Cup 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, ACC said that its Executive Board met on multiple occasions to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Asia Cup tournament which was scheduled to take place in September this year.

"From the onset the Board was keen on organising the tournament as per the original schedule. However, travel restrictions, country-specific quarantine requirements, fundamental health risks and social distancing mandates have posed as substantial challenges to the holding of the Asia Cup," the statement read. Asia Cup 2020: Disappointed Fans React With Memes and Jokes After BCCI Chief Sourav Ganguly Announces Cricket Tournament Stands Cancelled.

"Above all, the risks related to health and safety of participating players, support staff, commercial partners, fans and the cricketing community were deemed to be significant. Accordingly, the Board, after careful consideration of all the above factors, has determined that the Asia Cup 2020 be postponed," it added.

ACC further stated that conducting the event in a responsible manner remains their priority and the Board is hopeful that the tournament will be held in 2021. "The ACC is currently working towards securing June 2021 as a suitable window for the same," it said.

ACC then added that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has exchanged hosting rights for the tournament with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and consequently, SLC will now host the rescheduled Asia Cup expected in June 2021 while the PCB will host the Asia Cup 2022.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)