Organizing IPL in the UAE would be a logistic task:
Taking Indian Premier League to the UAE would be a fair task for the organizers but for Ajit Singh, BCCI Anti-Corruption Unit head, the shifting will make the tournament a little bit easier as it would be restricted to only three venues.
As per the BCCI declaration, the IPL will begin from 19th September in UAE and the final will be held on 8th November in three stadiums- Sharjah, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. In these venues, 61 games will be held in more than 51 days.
Ajit Singh told PTI that “In the UAE, it will be easier to monitor ACU activity as there are just three stadiums as compared to eight grounds in India. Once the match schedule would be finalized, we will make a decision on the workforce.”
Ajit Singh also added “ On BCCI payrolls, there are eight numbers of ACU officers. It is too fast to say on different measures as we have to check first what type of bio-security measures will be generated. First, we have to look at how things are taking shape in the UAE, and accordingly, we will arrange our men there. If require, we will hire some people.”
As per the BCCI official, if needed, we can take help from the ICC as ICC’s headquarter is in Dubai and they have a big team of ACU officials, who can be hired.
The senior BCCI official told PTI “In case it is a personal tournament that comes near ICC for taking more ACU officers and they say yes to manage the event, then the organizers of the league accept the costs.”
According to rules, the BCCI may require more people considering that every side will have a single dedicated ‘Integrity Officer’.
A senior franchise official clarified the regulations “During the IPL, it is the Indian Cricket Board, BCCI that will appoint one Integrity Officer to each team. Now whether the officers will be a part of the bio-bubble environment, we don’t know, but the appointed integrity officer is entirely their department.”
