The government had last week given a green signal to the BCCI to hold IPL in UAE:
The chairman of IPL, Brijesh Patel said on Monday (10-08-2020) that the Indian cricket Board, BCCI has got the formal approval of the government to conduct this year’s Indian Premier League in UAE. He added that in all possibility, the new title of the tournament will be declared by 18th August. There will be a one-week time for interested firms to submit their bid.
Last week, the government had provided an “in principle” green signal to the BCCI to move the league to the UAE because of heavy rising COVID-19 cases in India. Brijesh Patel told PTI “Yes, We have got all the formal approvals from the government.”, when asked whether the permission of conducting IPL has come from both Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
A senior BCCI official told PTI “Once we got the government approval, we had discussed with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB). Now we have all official papers also, so all the franchises can be assured everything is going according to the plan.”
Maximum franchises will be traveling after 20th August after two compulsory COVID-19 tests. These tests will be held within 24 hrs from the departure city.
The Chennai Super Kings staff as well as players will have a small meeting on the insistence of captain MS Dhoni at the Chepauk. And they are leaving for UAE on 22nd August.
The BCCI is also struggling with the title sponsorship after the sudden exit of the Chinese handset manufacturer Vivo for the 2020 IPL because of massive public controversy over the Sino-India border stand-off.
It was a deal of Rs. 440 crore and now BCCI looks for a potential sponsor. Patanjali Ayurveda of Baba Ramdev has shown keen interest to become the new title sponsor of 2020 IPL.
