United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman are set to return home early from Windhoek following the emergence of the Omicron strain of Coronavirus. The news comes after several countries traveling from the African part of regions imposed restrictions due to the rapid spread of the virus. Oman and UAE, who were in Namibia playing CWC league 2 trilateral series will now return home as the tournament is postponed.
The UAE government had also announced the suspension of the inbound flights from the majority of the African nations. It has also passed entry restrictions for travelers passed through Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, Lesotho, or Mozambique. England, the United States of America, and the European Union have also imposed similar travel restrictions on the passengers, as the government are not ready to take any risk whatsoever.
The Women’s World Cup Qualifier, which got underway in Zimbabwe was also postponed following the travel restrictions. The ODI series between South Africa and the Netherlands was also called off. The Dutch are in Pretoria and are awaiting repatriation to their country. Meanwhile, the Omani and Emirati teams will be returning on the same flight charted by ICC.
On the other hand, Oman and Namibia had to share honors in the first two ODIs of the CWC League 2 series. The first of which was one of two additional matches scheduled to replace those that were canceled following the death of Omani Sultan Qaboos bin Said during the fourth round of competition. The series marked the last two matches for UAE, who were yet to kick off their campaign in the trilateral competition.
Only seven series have been completed of the 21 scheduled. The remaining 14 will now have to be played before the 2023 World Cup Qualifier. Considering the present situation and impending threat of Omicron it remains to be seen if the League will be completed.
