The International Cricket Council (ICC) has canceled its planned board and committee meetings in Doha later this month due to the escalating conflict in West Asia. The meetings that were supposed to take place between March 25 and 27 will now be moved online.
The decision comes amid ongoing military tensions in the region that have disrupted travel and airspace operations. According to ESPNcricinfo, several discussions that were originally planned as face-to-face meetings, including the ICC Finance Committee meeting, will now take place virtually over the next few weeks.
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The possibility of holding physical meetings in April is not out of the question, but it will depend on whether the airspace in the region opens up enough for board members to travel safely.
WHAT SHOULD THE ICC HAVE DISCUSSED IN DOHA?
The Doha meetings were expected to bring together the directors of the ICC governing bodyCEOs, committee members and senior management as part of the governing body’s regular management calendar. A number of key issues were scheduled to be discussed, including the future of the ICC’s global broadcasting rights cycle, with the current deal with JioStar slated to run until 2027.
Another important topic of the program was the next Future Tours (FTP) program. Initial talks on the upcoming four-year international plan have already begun informally, with several board members discussing possible bilateral series and planning the structure of international cricket in the next cycle.
A qualifying track for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where cricket would return to the Games, was also expected to be part of the talks. With the Olympic tournament approaching, the ICC is working on systems to determine how teams qualify for the tournament.
The Doha session would be one of the ICC’s flagship governance meetings of the year, covering administrative, financial and development matters related to the global game.
Dubai has hosted many ICC board meetings in recent years, but this time Doha was chosen as part of the organization’s growing involvement in the region. The ICC is also working with the Qatar Cricket Association and the Qatar Olympic Committee to expand cricket’s presence in the country and boost local development.
For the time being, uncertainty surrounding travel and security in West Asia has forced the governing body to move its discussions online until the situation is clarified.
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
March 10, 2026 1:53 PM IST
