20 September,2023 04:17 PM IST | Dubai | mid-day online correspondent
ICC Men`s World Cup trophy (Pic: AFP)
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday confirmed New York, Dallas and Florida as the three venues for the USA-leg of the ICC Men's World Cup 2024.
Broward County (Florida), Grand Prairie (Dallas) and Eisenhower Park (New York) will be the three stadiums hosting the matches in the US.
This is the first time the tournament will be played in the USA, and they will co-host it with the West Indies.
The ICC had awarded the event to the USA in 2021. Geoff Allardice, the Chief Executive of the governing body, said, these venues have been zeroed in after an extensive evaluation process.
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"We're delighted to announce the three USA venues that will host part of the biggest ICC Men's T20 World Cup ever staged, with 20 teams competing for the trophy.
"We explored a number of potential venue options in the country, and we were hugely encouraged by the enthusiasm the event generated amongst prospective hosts," said Allardice in an ICC release.
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Allardice said the existing venues at Florida and Dallas will be expanded to accommodate more fans, media and premium hospitality areas using the modular stadium solutions.
He said the same technology will be used to build a 34,000-seat modular stadium at Nassau County, New York, and he hoped to acquire the required permit from local officials by next month.
"We are very excited about the opportunity to use modular stadium technology. This technology has been used at previous ICC events to increase venue capacity and it's routinely used in other major sports around the world.
"In the USA, it will give us the opportunity to increase the size of the venues in both Dallas and Florida and create what is going to be a stunning venue in New York," said Allardice.
A number of other venues around the USA, including George Mason University in Washington, the new home of MLC team Washington Freedom, have also been identified as potential venues for pre-event matches and training.
The ICC's announcement has also allayed all concerns over USA hosting the T20 WC 2024 because of the doubts surrounding the readiness of the stadiums.
(With PTI inputs)