Putri Anggraini
The Indian women’s cricket team secured a record-extending eighth Women’s Asia Cup championship after defeating Sri Lanka by 72 runs in Dubai, but the post-match celebrations were overshadowed by a political dispute that left the champions without their trophy. The presentation ceremony descended into controversy when the Indian squad refused to take the stage or receive the winner’s hardware from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s interior minister.
The final, staged at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, concluded around 9:50pm (17:50 GMT) on Sunday, September 13, 2026. However, the anticipated post-game proceedings were halted for more than three-quarters of an hour as members of both teams remained outside their respective dressing rooms awaiting instructions. The ceremony eventually commenced at 10:40pm (18:40 GMT) once an awards stage was assembled on the field.
When the presentation finally began, Naqvi stood alongside other officials on the temporary podium to distribute the awards. The proceedings opened routinely with match officials receiving their commemorative medallions before the Sri Lankan squad was called to the platform. Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu accepted the runners-up plaque from Naqvi and delivered her post-match remarks following her side's loss to India, who reclaimed the continental title from the 2024 winners.
The routine abruptly stopped following Sri Lanka's turn at the podium. In an unusual departure from standard cricket protocol, individual performance honors—including the Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament accolades—were omitted from the ceremony entirely. Furthermore, the Indian team was never invited to the stage to collect either their winners' medals or the championship trophy.
Prior to the podium event, video footage and images circulating on social media showed the Indian players and coaching staff standing together in a tight circle near their locker room. When the formal stage event proceeded, the entire Indian contingent remained absent from the presentation area, and no immediate official reason was shared on-site for their boycott of the ceremony.
Following the ceremony, the tournament's official social media channels did not publish the traditional photos of the champions lifting the silverware. Instead, the Indian women’s team's social media page posted a photograph of the squad and coaching staff assembled inside what appeared to be an empty stadium after the official event had wrapped up.
Neither the Asian Cricket Council nor the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) offered official responses or comments regarding the incident when contacted by Al Jazeera following the match.
The boycott in Dubai mirrored an identical standoff from September 2025 during the Men’s Asia Cup final at the very same venue. In that tournament, India defeated Pakistan to capture the trophy but similarly declined to take the podium or receive the championship prize from Naqvi, who held the ACC presidency and the chairmanship of the Pakistan Cricket Board at the time.
Following that 2025 men's tournament dispute, BCCI Chairman Devajit Saikia clarified the Indian board's position to the media. Saikia stated at the time that the decision to bypass the ceremony stemmed directly from Naqvi’s involvement, explaining that India had resolved not to accept the Asia Cup trophy from an ACC leader who concurrently acts as a primary political figure in the Pakistani government.
The sports diplomacy impasse reflects the broader deterioration of bilateral relations between India and Pakistan following major military and political escalations. Bilateral friction deepened significantly following an April 22, 2025 attack in the tourist hub of Pahalgam, located in Indian-administered Kashmir, in which armed assailants killed 26 men.
Responsibility for the Pahalgam attack was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), an armed faction seeking Kashmir’s independence. Indian authorities alleged that the group acts as an affiliate of the Pakistan-based organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a claim that officials in Islamabad strongly denied.
The deadly incident triggered immediate diplomatic consequences, with both countries reducing diplomatic ties and the Indian government suspending its participation in the long-standing Indus Waters Treaty. The political standoff soon escalated into direct cross-border military action.
On May 7, 2025, the Indian military initiated Operation Sindoor, firing multiple missiles at nine locations across Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Pakistani officials reported that dozens of civilians lost their lives during the missile strikes.
Three days later, on May 10, Pakistan responded with Operation Bunyan Marsoos, launching military strikes that hit at least six Indian military installations. Indian officials confirmed that at least five Indian personnel were killed in those retaliatory strikes.
The direct military exchanges were halted later that day when both nations reached a ceasefire agreement, which was publicly announced by United States President Donald Trump.
Despite the ceasefire, deep-seated animosity has continued to spill over into sporting fixtures. Since the armed hostilities in May 2025, encounters between Indian and Pakistani cricket squads across men’s, women’s, and youth categories have been marked by heightened tension, with the Indian men's squad notably declining to participate in customary post-game handshakes during their 2025 Asia Cup matchup.
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