The International Cricket Council will move the Women’s T20 World Cup to the United Arab Emirates after unrest in Bangladesh forced a change of venue.

The ninth edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup will now take place from October 3 to 20 in Dubai and Sharjah, the tournament with 10 teams, the ICC said on Tuesday. More than 300 people were killed during an uprising in Bangladesh which began in July. India had already rejected an offer by the ICC to replace Bangladesh as hosts.

“I would like to thank the BCB (Bangladesh Cricket Board) team for exploring all options to enable the event to be hosted in Bangladesh. However, due to travel warnings issued by the governments of some of the participating teams, this was not possible,” the ICC CEO said. Geoff Allardice. “However, they retain the hosting rights. We look forward to bringing a global ICC event to Bangladesh in the near future.”

The United Arab Emirates, home to the ICC headquarters, has hosted numerous cricket qualifying tournaments along with Oman, as well as the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Allardice said it was “a shame not to be able to host the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.” Several alternative countries had come forward before the United Arab Emirates were chosen.

“I would 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,” Allardice said. “We look forward to seeing global ICC events in both of these countries in 2026.”

The UAE already has the necessary facilities and infrastructure to host the Women’s T20 World Cup. Cricket has seen a resurgence in the country recently, with both the men’s and women’s teams ranked 16th in the ICC T20I team rankings.