Dubai, Aug 26 (IANS): The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that the Americas, Asia and EAP Qualifiers to the ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup have been cancelled due to Covid-19.

Based on guidelines approved by the ICC Development Committee and the ICC Board, the three events cannot be staged.

Therefore, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Papua New Guinea will all progress to the ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup 2022 on the basis of them securing the most wins in the last five U19 qualifying events in each respective region, the ICC announced in a release on Wednesday.

The members also approved ICC Covid guidelines for all pathway events, which for the U19s specifically took into account the duty of care required for minors, clearly outline the parameters under which the events can or can't go ahead due to Covid restrictions.

ICC Head of Events, Chris Tetley said: "It is incredibly disappointing that three regional qualifiers to the ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup have been cancelled due to COVID-19. Under the Member approved guidelines, where teams have withdrawn due to the impact caused by the pandemic, we had no other alternative but to cancel these three events.

"We have worked closely with all Members to try to ensure results can be determined on the field of play, however for these events it was not possible. Canada, the UAE and PNG will all progress to the U19 Men's CWC in line with the decision taken by the ICC Board in November 2020 in relation to cancelled qualifying events."

In addition, the ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup Africa has been relocated from Nigeria to Rwanda and will now be played from 30 September to 7 October due to Covid-19 restrictions.