COLOMBO, Aug 1: Pakistan will host the next Asia Cup in 2006 but the final dates will be announced later, the Asian Cricket Council said on Sunday.

"The formal invitation to host the 2006 Asia Cup was given to Pakistan at the executive board meeting held here on Sunday and Pakistan has formally agreed to host the event," ACC chief executive Ashraful Huq said.

Pakistan has never hosted the biennial event due to political tension with India. "The 2004 event was originally scheduled to be staged in Pakistan but had to be shifted to Sri Lanka. Now that India and Pakistan have revived bilateral cricket ties, we deemed it fit to stage the event in Pakistan," said Huq.

The Pakistan Cricket Board would decide the dates of the 2006 event once India announced the schedule of the Champions Trophy which they are due to host the same year, he said.

The meeting was presided over by new ACC president Jagmohan Dalmiya of India and attended by the four Test-playing members of the region - Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - and associate members the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore and Nepal.

The ACC put off its decision to stage the Asian Test Championship, previously held in 1999 and 2001. The meeting also decided Asian Test-playing countries would get US$2.5 million each from the $19 million in revenues earned from the ongoing Asia Cup.

Hong Kong and the UAE, which also featured in the tournament, would receive $300,000 each, while the rest of the fund would be spent on the development of cricket. -AFP