In the event office located near the press conference hall at the Dubai International Stadium, officials awaited the start of the awards ceremony following the final of a major tournament. On Sunday evening, after India convincingly defeated Sri Lanka in the Women's T20 Asia Cup final and secured its eighth consecutive title, numerous officials were once again present in the event office.
Although the staff had already prepared the area for the ceremony on the field, the officials remained in the office. Some were engaged in conversations, but tension was visible on their faces. At the center of this group was Mohsin Naqvi, Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and head of the Asian Cricket Council.
With every passing minute, the fear of a repeat of the dispute surrounding the Men's Asia Cup 2025 trophy intensified. Several minutes passed before Rajiv Shukla, Vice President of the Indian Cricket Association, emerged from the office and slowly walked towards the center, raising hopes that he would present the trophies to the winners and silver medalists, thus avoiding a recurrence of last year's failure when the Indian men's team refused to accept the award from Naqvi after defeating Pakistan at the same stadium.
However, Shukla only approached the Indian players who were gathered by the railing. Amidst this confusion, Naqvi, accompanied by other officials, finally left the office and headed to the awards area. There was no longer any doubt about who would present the trophies.
Nevertheless, the Indian women's team, similar to the men's team last year, decided not to accept the trophy from Naqvi, who is also the Minister of Interior of Pakistan. A few minutes after Naqvi appeared on stage, the Indian players returned to the dressing room.
Given that diplomatic relations between the two countries are at an all-time low after nuclear neighbors in South Asia nearly descended into full-scale war in May 2025, the consequences of the military conflict were once again felt at the sporting event.
The Sri Lankan team received its medals and deservedly received applause from the fans. However, Naqvi faced boisterous cheers as he returned to the event office after presenting medals to the Sri Lankan players.
Chamari Athapaththu, captain of Sri Lanka, found herself in an awkward position when asked about the trophy fiasco. She stated: 'Everyone is independent in their decisions, so I control what I can control. We take our medals because it is a ceremony, and we want to do it.' She added: 'We take our medals. But I don't know about others. Sorry, I cannot answer these questions. I will control what I can control.'
While several Pakistani media outlets, including The Daily Jang, criticized the Indian team for involving politics in sports, India's head coach Amol Muzumdar stated that the players were simply following the instructions of the country's cricket association. 'This step was taken by the BCCI, and we support it (the refusal to accept the trophy from Naqvi). For us, this tournament is over; we are champions,' Muzumdar said at the post-match press conference.
He continued: 'That is enough. The large board states that India is the champion of the Asia Cup 2026. This tournament is officially over for us. We are happy that we are champions and look forward to the Asian Games.'
Meanwhile, BCCI Secretary Devadjit Saikia asserted that the Indian cricket association had previously informed the Asian Cricket Council officials of its decision not to accept the trophy from Naqvi if the team won the tournament. According to Saikia, the Indian team was prepared to accept the trophy from any other official, citing past examples of Asia Cups where representatives of the winning team's cricket association presented the awards.
Saikia told India Today: 'We requested all stakeholders to maintain the Asia Cup tradition, where previously Bangladesh, and then Sri Lanka, our former ACC chairman, who is now the head of the ICC, Jay Shah, existed a norm whereby the winning team received the trophy from the head of their country's cricket association.'
According to a report in Hindustan Times, the men's and women's Sri Lankan teams accepted trophies from the then Sri Lanka Cricket chairman, Shammi Silva, after winning the Asia Cups in 2022 and 2024, respectively. Saikia noted: 'If you look at Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in past instances, for the BCCI, once winning, the country's cricket association head, either the secretary or the president, should have presented the trophy.' He added: 'This norm changed sharply last year when India won the Men's Asia Cup. I do not want to get into this argument, but the only thing needed is to adhere to tradition.'
It is unlikely that both sides will stop arguing over who is the moral winner in this episode, but paying spectators at the stadium do not deserve to see the final ruined by the fallout from diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
