Pakistan choose Dubai as Champions Trophy neutral venue

Host nation Pakistan on Sunday chose Dubai as a neutral venue for next year's Champions Trophy after India refused to travel to their neighbours for the tournament, officials announced.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday said that all matches involving India in the eight-team event would be held outside of Pakistan.

As part of the same agreement, Pakistan will play at a neutral venue in any event hosted by India until 2027, a compromise reached after a month-long stand-off between the two arch-rivals.

"Pakistan has chosen Dubai as the neutral venue for the Champions Trophy and it has been conveyed to the ICC officially, meaning India will play its matches there," said a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman.

The Champions Trophy will also feature Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan and Bangladesh with the event running from 19 February to 9 March, 2025.

The ICC is likely to announce a final tournament schedule later next week.

India stalled all bilateral cricket series with Pakistan after the 2008 attacks in Mumbai which were blamed on militants based across the border.

Pakistan and India now only play each other in multinational events such as the World Cup and Asia Cup.