ICC moves 2024 U-19 World Cup from Sri Lanka to South Africa - Reports

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has changed the venue for the 2024 men's Under-19 World Cup from Sri Lanka to South Africa in light of the suspension of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and "administrative uncertainty" in the board.

According to a report by Cricbuzz, the decision was made at the ICC's meeting in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The world body also upheld the decision to suspend SLC. They said, however, domestic and international cricket will go uninterrupted for the country. SLC will continue to oversee this with "controlled" ICC funding.

Sri Lanka's parliament suspended the SLC in mid-November. ICC found it against its rules of autonomy for cricket boards and suspended the board.

Sammi Silva, the former president of SLC who was ousted by the Sri Lankan government, also attended the meeting as he continues to enjoy ICC's backing.

The report added that Oman and the UAE were also considered as joint hosts but South Africa was eventually preferred because of better infrastructure. Cricket South Africa (CSA) allocated three grounds for the Under-19 World Cup.

Under-19 World Cup was slated for Jan-Feb 2024

The Under-19 World Cup was supposed to be played between January 13 and February 24 across five venues in Sri Lanka. It remains to be seen if and how the dates change and which grounds in the Rainbow Nation will host the matches.

16 teams will participate in the tournament after being qualified either automatically or via their performances in regional ICC tournaments. These are:

Automatic qualification: Sri Lanka (hosts), Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies, Zimbabwe

Regional qualification: Namibia (Africa Regional Qualifier), Nepal, New Zealand (EAP Regional Qualifier), Scotland (Europe Regional Qualifier), USA (Americas Regional Qualifier).

The teams will be divided into four groups, with four teams each. The top three teams will proceed to the next stage which will have two groups. The top two teams from these groups will then move on to the semi-finals.