Zimbabwe have been persuaded to pull out of the World Twenty20 in England next summer.
The ICC has been discussing Zimbabwe's future at a board meeting in Dubai after England and South Africa broke off cricketing relations last week. But the sport's governing body has decided Zimbabwe will not be suspended from international cricket.
The ICC's compromise decision should end any doubts about England hosting next year's World Twenty20 tournament.
Zimbabwe Cricket Union president Peter Chingoka told the AFP news agency his country had voluntarily pulled out of the event.
"Zimbabwe has agreed not to participate in the Twenty20 world championships in the wider interest of cricket," Chingoka said.
"But we will continue to be a full member of the ICC and welcome any team that wants to play against us. We voluntarily agreed to back out of the Twenty20 Worlds because we were told we won't get visas to England. We don't want to gate crash where we are not welcome."
The England and Wales Cricket Board stated last week it will not host a tour by Zimbabwe next year because of the close links between Zimbabwe Cricket and the regime of president Robert Mugabe.
This was after Cricket South Africa broke off relations with their near neighbours because of the political situation in the country. There had been calls for the ICC to remove the African country's full member status during a series of executive meetings this week. That would have been a controversial move and would have required at least seven of the 10 full member countries to agree. That appeared unlikely with Zimbabwe gaining support from the sub-continent, with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka throwing their backing behind the African nation.
Although the ICC would not take punitive action against the ECB for preventing Zimbabwe touring in the light of a formal government instruction, refusal to allow a full member to take part in the World Twenty20 could have resulted in the tournament being moved elsewhere.
Such a move would have been a huge financial blow to the ECB, with huge crowds expected at the three grounds chosen to host matches. The tournament schedule has already been published and tickets went on sale at 1000 BST on Monday.
ECB chairman Giles Clarke said he was satisfied with the outcome from the meeting in Dubai. "This matter led to a complex and lengthy series of negotiations," Clarke told BBC Radio 5 Live. "We've had long discussions with our colleagues on the ICC over the last three days and we're grateful they saw the point of view we held."
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