ISLAMABAD (AP) — A top Pakistan Cricket Board official is ready to talk to India to ease concerns about playing in the 2025 Champions Trophy, saying there is no “reason for them not to visit.”
“At this moment, every team that has qualified for the Champions Trophy is ready to come (to Pakistan),” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore on Monday.
“Nobody has any issues. I will say today also, if India has any concerns, speak to us about them. We can ease those concerns. I don’t think there is any reason for them not to visit.”
The PCB has spent millions of dollars to upgrade stadiums in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi, which are due to host the tournament from Feb. 19-Mar. 9.
England, South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Afghanistan and Australia are the countries which have qualified along with hosts Pakistan and India.
The International Cricket Council previously informed the PCB that India had told the game’s governing body it will not travel to Pakistan for the tournament.
Pakistan says it is not willing to organize India games at a neutral venue, like it did when it hosted the Asia Cup last year and the team played all its matches in Sri Lanka.
Both countries regularly play in multi-national tournaments, but India hasn’t toured Pakistan since the Asia Cup in 2008.
Last week, the PCB raised questions with the ICC about India’s unwillingness to travel for the Champions Trophy, but the organization has yet to respond.
“We have sent them (ICC) the questions we had,” Naqvi said. “We are still waiting for their response. I believe that sports and politics are separate and no country should mix the two. Even now I still have positive expectations about the Champions Trophy.”
There was controversy last week when the trophy tour started in Islamabad. The PCB announced it would also go to Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, but the city was removed from the tour after the Board of Control for Cricket in India objected to the ICC.
The trophy will be back in Pakistan in January after a tour of the other seven participating countries.
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