PSL given green light by UAE government to resume in June

JOSH STACEY: The Pakistan Cricket Board has received final approvals and exemptions from the UAE government in order to host the remainder of the tournament in the country

The Pakistan Super League has been greenlit to resume in Abu Dhabi, with the start date yet to be confirmed.

The Pakistan Cricket Board received the final approvals and exemptions from the UAE government in order to host the remainder of the tournament in the country, under biosecure restrictions.

The league was postponed on March 4 after multiple cases of Covid-19 were reported from within the biosecure camps. Fourteen of the 30 group matches had been completed when the league was stopped in its tracks due to the rising threat of the pandemic.

PCB chief executive Wasim Khan had previously stated that the league would get back underway during June. The meeting with the UAE government came after several failed attempts to rearrange the tournament in Pakistan.

Khan said: “We are delighted with this development as the remaining hurdles in the staging of the remaining HBL PSL 6 matches in Abu Dhabi have been overcome and all systems are now good to go.

^{Wasim Khan is the PCB chief executive}

“We are grateful to the UAE government, National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, Emirates Cricket Board and 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 finalise all event-related arrangements, details of which will be shared in due course.

“I take this opportunity to thank my staff for their untiring efforts and hard work that included sacrificing their Eid-ul-Fitr holidays in an effort to ensure the PCB honours its commitment to its fans to hold the remaining matches of the tournament in June.

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