HARARE, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe hosts nine cricket teams participating in the International Cricket Council World Cup qualifiers starting on Wednesday.

The teams involved in the competition are Afghanistan, Hong Kong, China, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, the United Arab Emirates, West Indies, Nepal, and the Netherlands.

Together with Zimbabwe, they will battle it out for two slots at the 2019 ICC World Cup in England and Wales.

The matches will be played in Harare, Bulawayo and Kwekwe.

Addressing the teams at a reception on Sunday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the hosting of the tournament was important as it marked Zimbabwe's full readmission into the world cricket arena, the Herald newspaper reported on Monday.

Mnangagwa also urged sports practitioners to shun corruption and uphold high moral ethics, honesty and integrity.

"Good governance, financial accountability, transparency and ethical administration remain crucial pillars to sport as a profession and commercial business," he said.

He said match-fixing, bribery, cheating and pre-determination of results in general could not go on unchecked as they demotivated deserving sportspersons.