Minister of Sport Shamfa Cudjoe: Fans at ICC U19 World Cup unlikely

MINISTER of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe said “at this time” no fans will be allowed to attend matches in the 2022 International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 World Cup.

The tournament will be held in the West Indies from January 14-February 5. Matches will be held in Trinidad, St Kitts, Guyana and Antigua.

Three venues will be used in Trinidad for matches including Queen’s Park Oval, Brian Lara Cricket Academy and Diego Martin Sporting Complex.

TT, like the rest of the world, continues to battle the covid19 pandemic.

Cudjoe said, “The CWI (Cricket West Indies) arrangement and the ICC arrangement is that we wouldn’t have spectators due to the whole covid situation. That was the arrangement.”

Cudjoe knows people are eager to attend matches, but efforts must be made to keep everyone safe including the players.

“Now you have some people trying to knock on the door…to push the boundaries but we have to be very careful in a season like this and a time like this and looking at our (covid19) numbers…if an adult gets sick that is one thing, but if a child gets sick the burden is going to be much heavier and the guilt is going to be much (heavier), so I want us to play this one as safe as possible.”