Cambodia forced to forfeit ACC Challenger Cup after visa denials

Cambodia were forced to forfeit their matches at the ACC Men’s Challenger Cup in Singapore after being unable to field a full team for the tournament. According to reports, three Cambodian players were denied visas upon arrival in Singapore, while a fourth player suffered an injury, leaving the squad without enough available players to compete. As a result, Cambodia withdrew from the competition, and Indonesia and Uzbekistan advanced directly to the quarter-finals.

No official explanation has been provided regarding why the three players were denied entry visas. The Cricket Association of Cambodia (CAC) has also not issued a public statement on the matter. Cambodia became an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council in 2022 and played their first official T20 International matches at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games, which they hosted in Phnom Penh.

The Cambodian team attracted significant attention during that tournament after 13 players of Indian or Pakistani origin received Cambodian passports shortly before the event. The squad was captained by Lugman Butt, who had previously played most of his domestic cricket in Pakistan. Cambodia went on to win gold medals in the T20I, T10, and 50-over competitions. However, the inclusion of the newly naturalised players and the timing of their citizenship approvals drew criticism from Malaysia.

“We noted that the passports were issued on April 23 this year, and the first match was played six days later, whereas the deadline for the shortlist was March 3. This begs the question, can amendments be made for as many as 13 players? If so, what is the purpose of a shortlist that was submitted beforehand?,” said the Malaysian Cricket Association as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

The round-robin stage of this year’s Men’s Challenger Cup ultimately served only to eliminate one team. With ten teams participating and eight places available in the quarter-finals, the tournament format left little room for meaningful competition in the group stage.

Cambodia’s withdrawal and subsequent forfeiture of their matches effectively created the same situation in their group, ensuring that the remaining teams advanced automatically. In that three-team group, hosts Singapore and Maldives secured the two available quarter-final spots, narrowly finishing ahead of Myanmar.