The Indian Premier League Governing Council is likely to meet on August 1 to discuss the road map for this year’s tournament - scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates from September 16.
Even as it awaits a go-ahead from the government - which it hopes to attain in the next few days - the BCCI has sent a letter of intent to the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) and hopes to get things sorted at the earliest. With just over a month left for the tournament to get underway, there are logistical issues to be looked into and the eight franchises hope that things are planned keeping all factors in mind.
“It is a tournament of the BCCI, which has by chance, come to us. As the host country, we will extend all our help to the BCCI,” ECB secretary general Mubhashshir Usmani told Sportstar.
While there is a possibility that chartered flights could be availed to fly out the players and other stakeholders to the Emirates, chances are high that each franchise will be asked to keep its contingent restricted to 35-40 people. Even though the ECB is optimistic about the fan entry, efforts are on to allow ‘limited entry’ for touring media as well. However, all that will depend on the decision of the UAE government.
On its part, the BCCI will issue a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) soon to all the franchises with the details on the health and safety protocols and the list of dos and don’ts. The tournament schedule, the training facilities and the quarantine measures are also likely to be discussed in the meeting - which is expected to be attended by BCCI's office-bearers.
“We are still waiting for more clarity. We have only heard things through the media, but we hope that decisions are taken keeping all the factors in mind. There are challenges for sure, but we need to get things in place,” one of the franchise bosses said, admitting that they will soon figure out a plan on how to send a recce team to the UAE.
In the Governing Council meeting, the Board officials are also expected to deliberate on the sponsorship issues. Last month, as the tension between India and China grew, the IPL had put out a tweet stating that the Governing Council will meet to discuss the issue. However, there was no development on that front, and now, it is understood that the Governing Council members and the IPL officials could discuss on the sponsorship model when they meet virtually.
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