Moving closer to shifting the remaining PSL matches to Abu Dhabi, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Thursday that it had received all outstanding approvals and exemptions from the United Arab Emirates government.

"The PCB will now hold an online meeting with the six franchise owners later in the day to update them about the progress made as well as to finalize all details, which will be shared in due course," the board said in a press release.

“We are delighted with this development as the remaining hurdles in the staging of the remaining PSL matches in Abu Dhabi have been overcome and all systems are now good to go," PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said.

“We are grateful to the UAE government, the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, the Emirates Cricket Board and the Abu Dhabi Sports Council for their support and patronage in ensuring all final obstacles were removed, which has firmly put us in a position to complete our marquee event.

“The PCB, in consultation with the team owners, will now work at pace to finalize all event-related arrangements, details of which will be shared in due course," he said.

Wasim Khan said it was great news for the fans.

“The holding of the remaining matches in Abu Dhabi will allow our fans to once again follow and support their favorite players and teams through our high-quality broadcast coverage of one of the most competitive cricket leagues in the world," he said.

The tournament was halted in March after seven people participating in the tournament tested positive for Covid-19, Dawn reported.
 
At the time, the cricket board had said the decision had been taken out of consideration for the health and wellbeing of all participants in the tournament.

Like the PSL, which was postponed midway through the season with 14 matches played from February 20 to March 3, the Indian Premier League (IPL) was also suspended in May after the emergence of positive Covid-19 cases in the bio-secure bubble created for the participating teams.

(SAM)