The new Indian Premier League (IPL) hosts along with the schedule will be announced on Monday evening
An Indian Premier League tournament scheduled for next month will now be played outside the country because of election security concerns, cricket officials said Sunday.
“Given the present circumstances, we had no option but to shift it outside of India,” N.Srinivasan, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told CNN.
The dates of the matches will remain the same, he said.Srinivasan added that the board will likely announce the new host country for the tournament in two to three days.
A South African official confirmed that the nation was approached to host the tournament.
“We received an official approach this morning [Sunday] to be one of several options they are considering,” Gerald Majola, CEO of Cricket South Africa, said on the group’s Web site. “We do not know what the other options are and it is not for us to comment on that.”
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
Majola said they are planning to discuss details on the proposal, adding that “it is a huge compliment to Cricket South Africa’s organizational skills, facilities and infrastructure.”
The move follows the Indian government’s “concerns” regarding security for the event, which was to take place in a period when the country goes for general elections.
About 2 million security personnel will guard the multiphased vote from April to May, according to the Indian election commission.
India’s federal home ministry had rejected a ne
w
schedule for the tournament the IPL organizers proposed over security issues.
The actual venue is unclear as yet. IPL chief Lalit Modi and the franchises have said that the venues could either be in New Zealand, South Africa or England.
Security would not be an issue in any of those countries as it would be in India. Not just that, the matches would be telecast in India at 4 PM and 8 PM IST. So the TV audiences would still be there. While the IPL franchises would lose our on revenues from local ticket sales, ticket sales in countries with a large expatriate Indian population would be high – and ticket prices would be much higher too outside India. The franchises would save on the security costs, while the TV audience in India would remain.
The new Indian Premier League (IPL) hosts along with the schedule will be announced on Monday evening. "We will have the final schedule and which country will host the IPL by tomorrow evening," Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said. "We have multiple schedules, multiple venues, multiple countries available to us. Now we just need to reschedule the matches. Each team will have a home in another country, another state and another stadium."
Popularity: 1% [?]
Related posts:
I just love all sports, so found your blog informative. Your blog has been bookmarked, keep up the good work.