Pakistan Cricket Board has selected United Arab Emirates as the neutral venue to host India's matches under the hybrid model for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
"The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has chosen the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the neutral venue for the 2025 Champions Trophy," said PCB spokesperson Amir Mir in a statement to IANS.
"The PCB has formally informed the ICC about the neutral venue decision. Now, India and Pakistan's Champion Trophy matches will be held in the UAE. The host was the one to decide on the neutral venue of the Champion Trophy. After the discussion, Mohsin Naqvi with Sheikh Al Nahyan decided upon a venue for the matches finally. Sheikh Al Nahyan is in Pakistan right now and is also the chairman of the UAE Cricket Board, he added.
The executive board of the International Cricket Council recently had confirmed that matches between India and Pakistan in upcoming ICC events till 2027, including next year's Champions Trophy 2025, will be played at neutral venues.
The neutral venue arrangements will be applicable to the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025, which is to be hosted by Pakistan, and the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025, which is to be hosted by India, as well as the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, which is to be hosted by India and Sri Lanka. It will also be applied to the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in 2028, whose hosting rights have been awarded to Pakistan.
India and Pakistan only compete with each other in international events, such as the World Cup and the Asia Cup, due to strained political ties. The last bilateral series between the two countries was held in 2012-13, when Pakistan came to India for a white-ball five-match series.
The Champions Trophy is planned to be played in February-March 2025. Meanwhile, the ICC announced that the schedule for the marquee tournament will come out in the coming days.
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