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AFP, LONDON Jan 25, The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced that the six World Cup matches scheduled to take place in Zimbabwe would go ahead.

The decision, which had been widely expected, was confirmed during a tele-conference meeting of the ICC's executive board and announced by the body's chief executive Malcolm Speed at a press conference here.

Speed said the world governing body was sticking to its position that the only reason to move games out of Zimbabwe during the February 8-March 23 tournament would be if there was a threat to the security of players and officials.

Following his visit to Zimbabwe earlier this week, Speed said this was not the case. As a result, he said: "The board confirmed its earlier decision that there are no security grounds to relocate the games scheduled in Zimbabwe."

Speed said it was still possible that the Zimbabwe games could be moved to main hosts South Africa if there was a deterioration in the security situation.

"There will be a cut off point when it's not possible to move the matches but at this stage it is still possible," he said, adding that matches could be moved up to four or five days before they are due to take place.

England and Australia have come under intense political pressure to pull out of their matches in Zimbabwe in protest at the human rights abuses of President Robert Mugabe.

But the ICC has always maintained it could not drop Zimbabwe on political grounds.

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