Champion Trophy 2025: PCB faces race against time to hand over venues to ICC

In a major blow for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), they face a race against time to get their venues in Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi ready in time for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which gets underway on February 19. According to reports, the PCB has time till February 12 to hand over the stadiums to the ICC. 

The work was to be finished by December 31, 2024, but after beginning in August, but there seems to be no end in sight. However, PCB said in a release that they are on course to get things done on time. 

"The PCB is fully committed to ensuring that all venues are ready to host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and other international matches. With over 250 workers labouring day and night to meet the 25 January deadline, the PCB is confident that the upgrades will elevate the fan experience and uphold Pakistan’s reputation as a premier cricketing destination."

The ICC are worried about the development as there is construction and upgradation going on in those stadiums, with just a little over a month to go for the start of the tournament.

"It is a very disappointing picture. All three stadiums are far from ready and it's not renovation or refurbishment, but proper construction which is underway. There is so much work left with seats, floodlights, facilities and even the outfield and playing surfaces," a source told the Times of India.

According to the same report, Lahore and Karachi are two venues where the dressing rooms and the hospitality boxes are yet to enter the finishing stages. 

New enclosures, fencing work, and the placement of floodlights and seats, too, have not been reportedly completed yet. The biggest obstacle is the weather, which is far from ideal at the moment.

"The weather is not ideal for construction and finishing work to happen at a rapid pace. At Gadaffi, even the plaster work isn't completed yet. And most of the time is taken by finishing work because we are talking about dressing rooms etc. They just can't be random rooms/enclosures for an ICC event. ICC has a checklist which needs to be met. National Stadium has decided to not completely finish the new enclosure because there is no time," added the source.

The Gadaffi Stadium, which is scheduled to host high-profile matches in the Champions Trophy, including the semi-final, is far from being completed at the moment. The PCB, as a result, has no option but to work over time.

However, to prove that  Lahore and Karachi are ready to host international matches, the PCB has moved their ODI tri-series, also featuring New Zealand and South Africa to these venues. 

"Given the advanced stage of preparations at Gaddafi Stadium and National Bank Stadium, the PCB has decided to relocate the upcoming tri-nation ODI series to these two venues. The series, featuring New Zealand and South Africa alongside Pakistan, was originally scheduled to be held in Multan," the PCB release further stated.