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Pakistan confirmed as Champions Trophy host

24/07/2008

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed Pakistan will remain as the host nation for the Champions Trophy in September.

Fears over security in the troubled Asian nation, which has seen widespread military conflict in the northwestern tribal region bordering war-torn Afghanistan, had raised doubts among several delegates.

A number of suicide bombings in the area around Islamabad - which is close to one of the proposed Champions Trophy host cities Rawalpindi – have killed more than 1,000 people in the last year alone.

But the ICC has reaffirmed its belief that Pakistan can continue as the host, deeming it unnecessary to switch the tournament to a more stable replacement host such as England, Australia or South Africa.

Nevertheless, a task team will be set up in order to manage the concerns of teams and players, and liase with the embassies and national governments, to ensure a smooth running of the competition.

The ICC board confirmed it had "considered various security reports and discussed at length the concerns of some members and stakeholders as well as the perceptions of Pakistan that may exist in some quarters" in a two-and-a-quarter-hour meeting.

"In recognising those concerns and perceptions, the board agreed they needed to be managed going forward, both before and during the tournament," a statement from the ICC explained.

"Those individuals and groups that will be invited to be part of the task team are the ICC president David Morgan; Sharad Pawar, the ICC president-elect; ICC chief executive officer Haroon Lorgat; the ICC principal advisor Inderjit Singh Bindra; Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board; and representatives of ICC's broadcast partner ESPN-Star Sports, the ICC's independent security advisors, and the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA)."