ICC working on security plan for U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh

ICC CEO David Richardson has said that the governing body has gathered enough information about the security situation in Bangladesh to put together a plan ahead of the Under-19 World Cup, scheduled to be held in the country early next year. Richardson met Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, who assured him of providing world-class security.

Richardson arrived in Dhaka on November 4 with three others as part of the ICC's security assessment of Bangladesh ahead of the U-19 World Cup. They met the high commissioners of the UK and Australia apart from getting a security presentation from the BCB, visiting the Cox's Bazar stadium, meeting intelligence agencies and the country's home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

"Bangladesh has a history of staging events, so we have every confidence that they have the ability, but this was all about trying to assess what the real threat is," Richardson said on Saturday. "There are a lot of perceptions out there. We have to get to the bottom of things and understand what the threat is. From a global perspective, it has become a lot more challenging from a security point of view to put on global events. This is no different.

"Now we understand the threat and the kind of plan we would need to implement and put in place. It is now putting that plan together that we need to work on."

In October, the ICC had ratified Bangladesh as the host of the Under-19 World Cup, which is set to be held from 22 January to 14 February 2016. The assessment comes in the wake of Australia's postponement of their tour to Bangladesh last month, following a security advisory from their government and the killing of an Italian national in Dhaka's diplomatic zone. Since then, Cricket South Africa have twice put off a visit by its women's team too.