"Negative Publicity": Sri Lanka Cricket On Reason Behind Shifting Of Asia Cup To UAE

Asia Cup 2022 will be played in the UAE after the tournament was moved out of Sri Lanka due to ongoing economic crisis in the country. Sri Lanka will be the hosts of the competition this year, but the tournament will go ahead in the UAE. The schedule has been announced for the tournament, and in the opener, Sri Lanka will square off against Afghanistan while India while take on Pakistan on August 28.

"They felt that the situation in Sri Lanka was not conducive to garner the confidence of the stakeholders. Not only the member countries, but a tournament of this magnitude requires other stakeholders, like the broadcasters, sponsors, etc," ESPNcricinfo quoted SLC secretary Mohan de Silva as saying during a media briefing.

"What they felt was that the negative publicity shown all over the world, with the petrol queues and all that, didn't help our cause," he added.

Further talking about the Asia Cup, SEL CEO Ashley de Silva said: "Sponsors were finding it difficult to get insured, and the security clearance for broadcast crews to enter Sri Lanka was also an issue. The delegates who wanted to come from the other countries also weren't prepared to come."

arlier, while announcing the move of shifting the Asia Cup from Sri Lanka to UAE, the Asian Cricket Council President Jay Shah said: "Considering the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, the ACC after extensive deliberation has unanimously concluded that it would be appropriate to relocate the tournament from Sri Lanka to the UAE," the ACC said in a statement. "Every effort was made to host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the decision to shift the venue to the UAE was taken after much deliberation. The UAE will be the new venue while Sri Lanka will continue to retain hosting