The International Cricket Council (ICC) Sunday decided to relocate the 2009 Champions Trophy from Pakistan due to lingering fears over the security situation in the troubled nation. Following a meeting of the ICC board here, chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the "safety and security environment" in Pakistan had forced a relocation of the eight-nation event.
The second-biggest one-day tournament in world cricket behind the World Cup, the Champions Trophy had already been delayed 12 months to September this year because of concerns over player safety.
"The board was seeking some sort of certainty sooner rather than later, and as a result has decided it won't be staged in Pakistan," Lorgat said.
"We all know what is transpiring in Pakistan and India has now got a government directive not to tour, which adds some weight to the countries who had previously indicated they were not keen to tour Pakistan," he added.
"It is unfortunate the Champions Trophy will not take place in Pakistan due to circumstances completely beyond the control of the PCB [Pakistan Cricket Board]," Lorgat said
On the other hand, the Pakistan board has been criticised by a senior politician for losing the hosting rights for the Champions Trophy after several ICC member boards expressed reservations about touring the troubled nation. Senator Enver Baig, who is part of the sports committee, said the PCB was as much to blame for the event's shifting as the ICC.
The sports minister Pir Aftab Shah Jilani said Pakistan had proven itself to be a safe touring destination while hosting one-day tournaments in 2008. "We held the Asia Cup last year in a very successful manner and the recent ODI series against Sri Lanka also went incident-free," Jilani said. "We don't think there was any reason to move the tournament out of Pakistan."
Sri Lanka is the alternative venue and Lorgat said a final decision would be made on the tournament before the next ICC board meeting in April.
