ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Moved to United Arab Emirates from Bangladesh; West Indies Women to Kick Off Tournament on October 5

International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that this year’s Women’s T20 World Cup will now be hosted in the United Arab Emirates instead of Bangladesh.

The decision was made to change the hosts following the countrywide anti- government agitations which existed in Bangladesh throughout July and into early August and ended when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned.

ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said in a statement: “It is a shame not to be hosting the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh as we know the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) would have staged a memorable event.”

He continued: “I would like to thank the team at BCB for exploring all avenues to try and enable the event to be hosted in Bangladesh but travel advisories from the government 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 would also like to thank the Emirates Cricket Board for stepping in to host on behalf of the BCB, 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.”

Current Men’s T20 World Champions India refused the right to host the ninth edition of the competition.

West Indies Women are in Group B with former T20 World Champions England, former hosts Bangladesh, Scotland and South Africa. In Group A are World Champions Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and India.

The Women in Maroon will open against South Africa on October 5.