Asia Cup Trophy Row Erupts in Dubai as India Skips Ceremony
Indian cricket teams have repeatedly boycotted the Asia Cup trophy presentation ceremonies overseen by ACC Chairman Mohsin Naqvi in Dubai. The Board of Control for Cricket in India requested that the silverware be presented by an ACC vice-president instead, but the demand was rejected.
A fresh controversy has erupted over the Asia Cup trophy presentation in Dubai involving the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi. The diplomatic sporting tension stems from strained geopolitical relations between India and Pakistan, heavily impacting regional cricket administration and official ceremonies in September 2025.
Mohsin Naqvi currently serves in several prominent positions simultaneously, acting as the chairman of both the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Asian Cricket Council, as well as holding the office of Pakistan's interior minister. This multi-faceted role has placed him at the center of ongoing administrative friction with Indian cricket authorities during continental championship events held abroad.
The underlying dispute first surfaced last year when the Indian men's team triumphed at the tournament. Due to deeply hostile diplomatic relations between the neighboring nations, the Indian squad led by Suryakumar Yadav explicitly refused to receive their championship trophies directly from Mohsin Naqvi during the official post-match proceedings.
The pattern of boycotts repeated itself in Dubai during the final of the women's Asia Cup. After the Indian women's team, captained by Harmanpreet Kaur, emerged as the ultimate champions of the tournament, the players chose not to participate in the scheduled trophy distribution ceremony overseen by the ACC chairman.
Behind the scenes, the BCCI had formally requested that the championship trophy for the winning side be handed over by an ACC vice-president rather than Naqvi. However, this diplomatic compromise was firmly rejected by Mohsin Naqvi, leading directly to the recurring boycotts by both the men's and women's national teams on the international stage.
Elaborating on the deliberate decision, BCCI official Devajit Saikia stated that the board made a conscious decision after evaluating all aspects of the situation. He confirmed that they had already informed the ACC in advance that the Indian team would not participate in the trophy distribution ceremony under the prevailing circumstances. Meanwhile, when questioned about developments, Amol Muzumdar noted that there was no news up to that point and therefore he could not provide an answer.
