The ICC Women s ODI World Cup 2025 is no longer going to include M. Chinnaswamy Stadium of Bengaluru. The state government of Karnataka has denied entry to any matches of the high profiled tournament to be conducted at this historic ground.
Karnataka Government Denies Permission for Women’s ODI World Cup Matches
India will host the Women ODI World cup 2025 of ICC, which is scheduled to be hosted between September 30 and November 2. Initially, Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium was allotted four matches, including the final scheduled for November 2, provided Pakistan did not qualify for the final.
But permission to host Women World Cup matches in November in the Chinnaswamy Stadium has been denied by the Karnataka government. This move comes after a report by a judicial commission raised safety concerns following a stampede on June 4 in which 11 people were killed and in excess of 50 others injured during an RCB victory procession at the facility.
Safety Concerns Highlighted in Judicial Commission Report
The commission’s probe pointed to structural and logistical flaws in the stadium’s design as contributing factors to the stampede. These included lack of easy entry/exit points and connection to the public transport, inadequate queuing regions, inefficiency in emergency evacuation plans, and scarcity of parking space and they all were reported.
Considering these safety-related weaknesses, the stadium was declared by the government as unsuitable in hosting the events with crowds of people. The rejection of the request has immediate effects on the Women ODI World Cup that has been scheduled to take place in Bengaluru.
Karnataka Cricket Association’s Disappointment Over Women’s ODI World Cup Ban
The Karnataka Cricket Association (KCA) expressed frustration over the ruling, emphasizing their successful hosting of over 750 matches, including nearly 15 IPL seasons without major incidents. Even offering to play the Women World Cup matches closed to the spectators, they had not been listened to.
We had even requested to allow matches to be played without spectators and this was denied, said a KSCA official adding that the June 4 was an occasion of an isolated party and had nothing to do with cricket matches. Another setback experienced by the KCA is that the stadium has been recently banned to host the matches of Maharaja Trophy series.
Revised Schedule for Women’s ODI World Cup Matches
As far as Bengaluru is out of the equation, the games that were set to take place at the Chinnaswamy stadium shall be transferred to other grounds. Ladies team of India will start the campaign against Sri Lanka on 30th September.
The gird under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur will play against Pakistan, South Africa and Australia on the 5th, 9th and 12th respectively in October. After that they will face England on October 19, New Zealand on October 23, and Bangladesh on October 26 as they strive to win the world cup.
