Who will present medals at Asian Games cricket? Spotlight on ACC president Mohsin Naqvi after India’s Asia Cup trophy standoff originally appeared on Cricket News.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- India‘s Olympic body has formally asked Asian Games organisers to bar Pakistani officials from cricket medal ceremonies.
- OCA rules state that its president is the default presenter, though the role can be delegated.
- The request follows India’s refusal to accept the Women’s Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi.
MORE:Mohsin Naqvi trophy presentation updates as India Women boycott PCB chief in Dubai
Will the India-Pakistan standoff continue at the Asian Games?
The trophy standoff that has followed Indian cricket through two Asia Cup finals now threatens to spill into an entirely different competition.
With both India’s men’s and women’s teams still in gold-medal contention at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, the question of who will hand over the medals has moved from hypothetical to genuinely urgent.
According to a report BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia had initially struck a measured tone on the matter, preferring to focus on results before addressing a ceremony that has not yet happened.
“We are focusing solely on the matches. The teams have to first reach the podium. We will take a call then, taking into account all prevailing factors at that moment,” Saikia said.
He was careful not to let the unresolved Asia Cup dispute distract from India’s actual campaign. “We will cross the bridge only when we reach it. The focus of the board and cricketers is only on winning the matches. We don’t want to comment on anything else that hasn’t happened yet,” Saikia added.
That cautious approach appears to have shifted quickly, however, with India’s Olympic authorities choosing not to wait for the bridge to arrive before acting.
MORE: When does Mohsin Naqvi’s term as ACC president end? Will he be in charge during the next Asia Cup?
Why India’s Olympic body has already moved to block Naqvi
According to a separate report, the Indian Olympic Association formally wrote to Asian Games organisers on September 16, requesting that no Pakistani official be present at medal ceremonies involving India’s cricket teams at all.
The move represents the most direct institutional step India has taken so far to formalise its position, going well beyond Saikia’s earlier wait-and-see framing.
The trigger for that letter was the fallout from the Women’s Asia Cup final on September 13, when India beat Sri Lanka by 72 runs only for the presentation ceremony to collapse into confusion.
Mohsin Naqvi, who holds the ACC presidency alongside his roles as PCB chairman and Pakistan’s interior minister, stood on the podium to present the trophy, and India’s players never came out to collect it.
Smriti Mandhana reportedly walked back into the dressing room upon seeing Naqvi waiting there, and the ceremony eventually wrapped up with Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu collecting the runners-up cheque while India’s medals and trophy went unclaimed.
MORE: Explained: Why India plays against Pakistan but won’t accept trophies from Pak politicians
What did the OCA have to say about possible Naqvi-India standoff?
Under the OCA Constitution, the framework India’s request is trying to work around, Article 66 states plainly under its Victory and Medals Ceremony section that “medals to the winners of the OCA Games shall be presented by the OCA President.”
The same article allows that responsibility to be delegated to other OCA members, provided the ceremony still involves the president or deputy of the relevant international or Asian federation, and it separately bars any political, religious, commercial, or racial propaganda during the ceremony itself.
Naqvi is not the OCA president, a distinction worth noting given the rule’s specific wording, which means his presence at any Asian Games cricket ceremony would depend on delegation rather than automatic entitlement.
Whether the IOA’s letter succeeds in keeping him away entirely is now a decision that rests with the Asian Games organising committee rather than with India or Pakistan directly.
Why India’s pre-emptive move is the smarter play this time
India’s approach at the two Asia Cup finals, showing up and then refusing the trophy once Naqvi appeared, produced exactly the kind of prolonged, awkward television moment neither side wanted, with ceremonies delayed by up to 50 minutes and broadcasters left improvising around empty stages.
Repeating that scene at an Olympic Council event, watched by a considerably broader multi-sport audience, would do little for anyone’s reputation.
Writing to organisers in advance, rather than waiting to see who turns up on the podium, at least gives the Asian Games committee time to plan around the objection rather than scrambling mid-ceremony.
It also shifts the burden of decision-making onto the OCA itself, an outcome India would clearly prefer to a repeat standoff played out live on camera.
Whether the organising committee grants the request is a separate matter entirely, and given the OCA’s own rules place broad discretion in the president’s hands to delegate as they see fit, there is no guarantee this preemptive move avoids a third consecutive ceremony overshadowed by the same unresolved argument.
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