KUALA LUMPAR: Cricket’s Asia Cup has been moved from India to the UAE over Pakistan’s refusal to cross the border, as relations simmer between the arch rivals, the Asian Cricket Council said Tuesday.
The biennial event was due to be held in India in September, sparking protests from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) who called for the event to be relocated.
“This year’s Asia Cup is moved out of India to UAE and will be held from September 13-28,” Sultan Rana, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) development and event manager, told AFP.
India has suspended bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan since the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on militants based across the border.
However India has continued to square off with Pakistan in international events like the 2016 Asia Cup in Bangladesh, the World Twenty20 at home and the 2017 Champions Trophy in England.
The Asia Cup has been marred by strained Indo-Pak relations since its inception when the UAE hosted it in 1984.
Two years later, India pulled out of the event in Sri Lanka, while Pakistan refused to send its team to India when it hosted the cup in 1991.
With Pakistan and India unable to host, Bangladesh held three straight Asian Cups from 2012 to 2016.
Rana said six Asian teams will compete in the 50-over Asia Cup.
“India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the five top teams while, there will be a qualifying round to select the sixth team,” said Rana, a former Pakistan first class player.
Meanwhile, the ACC Emerging Asia Cup was also jeopardized earlier this month when India refused to send their team to Pakistan to compete.
“Emerging Cup will now be hosted jointly by Pakistan and Sri Lanka in December this year,” said Rana.
India will play its Emerging Cup matches in Sri Lanka.
Asia Cup shifted to UAE over India-Pakistan cricket row
Asia Cup shifted to UAE over India-Pakistan cricket row
- PCB calls for September tournament to be relocated
- India has suspended bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan since the 2008 attacks in Mumbai
The danger is real for Tottenham as specter of Premier League relegation looms
What’s been increasingly apparent to despairing Tottenham fans for some months is now suddenly clear for everyone: their team could genuinely be relegated from the Premier League.
Spurs have been regarded for some time as part of England’s so-called “Big Six” — so much so that they were involved in the quickly aborted Super League project in 2021 — but they aren’t playing like it, at least in the Premier League.
Last season, Tottenham finished in 17th place, one spot above the bottom three, but was never in realistic danger of relegation.
This season, the danger is real. Tottenham is in 16th place but just four points above the relegation zone with 11 rounds remaining and is the only team in the league without a win in 2026 heading into a match at Fulham on Sunday.
The only victories this calendar year have come in the Champions League, which Tottenham finished in the top eight after the first stage to advance directly to the round of 16.
Spurs — the Europa League winners last season — haven’t been able to reproduce their European exploits in the Premier League, with their shortcomings exposed in a 4-1 thrashing by fierce rival Arsenal last weekend. That was Igor Tudor ‘s first match in charge of Tottenham and it laid bare the scale of the task facing the Croatian, who replaced Thomas Frank at the helm.
Tudor has a long injury list to deal with — among the top players on it are James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Bergvall and Pedro Porro — as well as confidence issues within the squad. Do they have the stomach for a relegation battle?
Also going against Tottenham is the fact that third-to-last West Ham is showing more resilience in recent weeks, losing just one of its eight games in all competitions.
It doesn’t help, either, that while Spurs are at a low ebb, Arsenal is currently the top team in England.
Tottenham has been an ever-present in the Premier League since the competition was founded in 1992, and last played in the second tier in the 1977-78 season.
Key matchups
The title race resumes with first-place Arsenal at home to Chelsea. They recently met over two legs in the English League Cup semifinals and Arsenal won both games.
Manchester City is five points behind in second place, though has a game in hand, and is away to Leeds. That sees City striker Erling Haaland return to the city where he was born.
Players to watch
Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko will be looking to score in a third straight game when Crystal Palace visits Old Trafford. Sesko scored an equalizer against West Ham and then a winner at Everton, both times off the bench.
Out of action
Liverpool manager Arne Slot will hope for positive news about Germany playmaker Florian Wirtz, who missed the win at Nottingham Forest last weekend because of back pain.
Liverpool hosts West Ham on Saturday.
Off the field
It seems Crystal Palace and its manager, Oliver Glasner, are heading toward a messy break-up.
Glasner, who led Palace to its first ever trophy last season by winning the FA Cup, has already confirmed he’s leaving his job at the end of the season and has been non-committal about whether he would even be staying that long.
Fans held up a banner containing the words, “Fans disrespected — Glasner finished” during a match against Wolverhampton last weekend.
