LONDON, Nov 6: A security delegation from the International Cricket Council (ICC) will arrive in Zimbabwe later this month to help decide whether the country should be allowed to stage World Cup fixtures next year.

The delegation, headed by ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed, will spend three days in the country after arriving Nov 26.

Zimbabwe is due to host six World Cup group games in Harare and Bulawayo.

ICC president Malcolm Gray stressed Wednesday that the only issues would be security and safety for teams and officials.

“The ICC and its members are only concerned with cricket-related issues,” said Gray in a statement.

“The political issues surrounding Zimbabwe are matters for politicians.” He said while some countries had imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe “no government in any part of the world has identified sporting sanctions as an appropriate tool to achieve a political outcome”.

The Australian team refused to tour Zimbabwe in March after their government advised its citizens not to travel, citing fears of possible election violence.

The British government, meanwhile, has been highly critical of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s land redistribution policies.

The ICC delegation will prepare a report within 10 days. Should Zimbabwe get the all-clear, Australia or England would be in danger of forfeiting their matches if they refused to travel.

If, however, security concerns persisted, the matches could be moved to South Africa where the bulk of the tournament is due to be staged.

India, Pakistan, Namibia and Holland are also due to play World Cup matches in Zimbabwe in February and March next year.

The ICC delegation will include Australian Cricket Board chief executive James Sutherland and Tim Lamb, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Tim May, joint chief executive of the Federation of International Cricket Associations (FICA), will take part to represent the players.

Zimbabwe cricketer Heath Streak has argued in favour of the matches going ahead.

“Taking the games away would be financially devastating for our cricket,” he said. “There’s certainly no problem in Zimbabwe at the moment — the security is absolutely fine. All our families are there.”—Reuters