ICC Women's World Cup 2022: No change in schedule, venues because of Covid-19

The
World
Cup
is
scheduled
to
be
held
in
New
Zealand
from
March
4,
with
the
hosts
taking
on
West
Indies
in
the
tournament
opener.

However,
New
Zealand
has
seen
a
surge
in
COVID-19
cases
recently
leading
to
several
restrictions.

“We
have
been
in
preparation
to
host
the
World
Cup
here
in
2022
for
quite
a
sometime,
originally
it
was
scheduled
for
2021.
We
are
well
on
track
and
35
days
away
from
the
opening
match
in
Tauranga
and
66
days
away
from
the
final
at
the
Hagley
Oval
in
Christchurch.

“The
first
thing
to
say
is
that
the
tournament
schedule
is
remaining
as
it
is,
and
that
involves
moving
around
New
Zealand,”
Nelson
told
a
select
group
of
reporters
on
a
con-call
on
Friday.

“We
are
working
with
the
ICC
at
a
managed
environment.
But
broadly
speaking,
the
tournament
will
proceed
nationwide
as
planned,”
she
added.

On
Thursday,
New
Zealand
Cricket
announced
a
reworked
schedule
to
curb
the
risk
of
COVID-19
by
ensuring
that
the
teams
will
not
have
to
travel
a
lot
for
matches
in
both
men’s
and
women’s
events.

“The
big
change
in
the
last
week
or
so
has
come
about
though
is
New
Zealand
has
the
Omicron
variant.
But
what
hasn’t
changed
is
our
full
commitment
to
staging
an
incredible
event
for
the
athletes,”
stated
Nelson.

The
World
Cup
is
slated
to
be
played
at
six
venues
–
–
Tauranga,
Dunedin,
Hamilton,
Wellington,
Auckland
and
Christchurch
and
Nelson
maintained
that
as
of
now
there
was
no
change
in
location.

“The
plan
is
to
retain
the
schedule
as
it
is
with
the
six
venues.
The
contingency
measures
were
put
in
place
related
to
protecting
the
travel
between
those
venues
as
much
as
possible.

“We
are
currently
staging
the
event
as
per
the
schedule
that
has
been
previously
published
with
no
changes
of
location.”

“So,
there
are
no
significant
changes
to
the
way
the
event
will
be
delivered
for
the
players.
Predominantly
the
changes
are
related
to
spectators
inside
the
stadium.”

Nelson
added
that
New
Zealand
government
is
doing
its
best
to
“maximise”
the
attendance
at
the
event.
“New
Zealand
has
moved
to
a
traffic
light
system.
With
the
arrival
of
the
new
variant,
we
are
at
the
red
of
the
traffic
light
system.
And,
broadly
speaking,
that
puts
the
attendance
at
events
only
in
groups
of
100.

“So,
the
work
we’re
undertaking
at
the
moment
is
how
many
groups
of
100
can
we
fit
within
each
stadium,”
said
Nelson.