The ICC has cancelled the East-Asia Pacific (EAP) qualifiers to the men's T20 World Cup 2022 and women's T20 World Cup 2023 due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation. As a result, Philippines have progressed to the next stage of the men's event as the highest-ranked team as of 30 April 2020, while in the women's pathway, the highest-ranked EAP team as of November 30 2021 will go through.
The men's qualifier was supposed to be held between October 18 and 23, involving Fiji, Cook Islands, Indonesia, Philippines, Samoa, South Korea and Vanuatu and hosts Japan. The women's qualifier, featuring the Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, PNG, Samoa and Vanuatu, was scheduled between November 7 and 12, with the hosts yet to be decided.
Had both these events gone ahead, everyone involved would've faced lengthy quarantine periods upon their return home. Taking that into account, the ICC felt "there was no other option but to cancel." The automatic qualification was decided in accordance with the principles approved by the ICC Board in November 2020 and under member-approved ICC Covid guidelines for all pathway events.
"We have unfortunately had to cancel the EAP Qualifiers to the Men's and Women's T20 World Cups as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic," Chris Tetley, ICC's head of events, said. "With the current travel restrictions and quarantine requirements for travelling countries meant the only course of action was to cancel. We would like to thank all participating Members for their patience and support in coming to this decision."
In addition, the Americas qualifier for the women's T20 World Cup has been rescheduled due to travel restrictions. It will now take place between October 18 and 25 in Mexico, where Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and USA will be vying for progress.
Earlier, qualifying events for the 2022 men's Under-19 World Cup were cancelled for the Americas, Asia and East-Asia Pacific regions, due to complications arising out of Covid-19.
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