‘West Indies, South Africa contingents on their way home in 24-36 hours,’ says ICC

The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Wednesday, announced that players of South Africa and the West Indies are on course to return home after a delay due to airspace disruption amid the ongoing West Asia conflict.

Members of South Africa and the West Indies contingents have been stranded in India after their teams were knocked out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.

“On current arrangements, the South Africa contingent will begin departing for South Africa tonight, with all members expected to have departed within the next 36 hours,” the ICC said in a statement.

“Of the West Indies contingent, nine members are already travelling to the Caribbean, while the remaining 16 are booked on flights departing India within the next 24 hours. We will provide updates on further departures as confirmed arrangements are in place.”

The West Indies exited the tournament on March 1, after losing to eventual champion India, while South Africa was knocked out three days later, following a defeat to New Zealand in the semifinal.

But their return remained a challenge, with the West Asian airspace frozen due to the conflict involving the United States, Iran and Israel.

“The delay is the direct result of the ongoing crisis across the Gulf region, which has caused widespread and continuing disruption to international air travel, including airspace closures, missile warnings, re-routing constraints, as well as the cancellation and rescheduling of both commercial and charter flights at short notice,” the ICC added.

“These are conditions entirely outside the ICC’s control, and they have made each travel solution significantly more complex and time-consuming than under normal circumstances.”

On the contrary, England, which lost the other semifinal to India, flew home safely on March 7, leading to accusations of bias against the ICC.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan was quoted as telling the BBC, “The power is all wrong. All teams in this situation should be treated the same,” he said. “Just because you are more powerful at the ICC table shouldn’t count.”

But the ICC rejected such claims, calling them ‘unhelpful’ and ‘incorrect’ and suggestions from ‘people uninformed of the situation.’

“There is no link between arrangements made in the cases of South Africa and the West Indies and those made previously for England or any other nation, which arose from separate circumstances, routing options and different travel conditions,” ICC said.

“Throughout this period, the ICC’s overriding priority has been the safety and welfare of everyone affected, including players travelling with spouses and young children. We will not move people until we are satisfied that the travel solution in place is safe, and that commitment will not change.”