COVID-19 committee to decide fate of matches if cases arise in T20 World Cup 2021: ICC

The acting chief executive Geoff Allardice of the International Cricket Council (ICC) is hoping for a smooth T20 World Cup, which begins on October 17 in the United Arab Emirates and Oman amid coronavirus concerns.

Last month, India had pulled out just two hours before the toss of the fifth Manchester Test due to Covid fears in their camp and left England, now, during a virtual press conference said that such last-minute decisions will be taken by that committee.

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"We have a committee set up to look at any cases that arise during the event and they will look at identifying close contacts and taking decisions around future events," Allardice told a virtual news conference.

"Any decisions around matches will be taken by that committee and it's not going to be something that's going to be dealt with by the members as it may do in bilateral cricket."

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Previously, ICC revealed what will happen if a positive case does arise and the ICC expects that could happen given the evidence of major events around the world in other sports, a process is in place to address it.

A positive test recipient will go into 10 days isolation and close contacts six days isolation, but all cases will be referred to BSAG for their consideration. Biosafety Scientific Advisory Group (BSAG) will oversee all issues relating to biosafety through the tournament.

Preparations to keep the tournament safe:

ICC had earlier informed that players will go into six days of isolation on arrival to the tournament during which they will have three COVID-19 tests to ensure no one entering the next stage of the process is infected.

After those six days, players are moved into a managed event environment for the duration of the tournament, undergoing periodic testing.

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Everybody taking part in the event has been fully vaccinated. In order to maintain the managed event environment, participants will be kept away from the public.

With the tournament taking place across four locations and two countries, the ICC has planned thoroughly to ensure travel does not compromise safety.