Now that the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been shifted to the UAE, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the UAE government are in talks about the logistics and also about the entry of fans inside the stadiums.
As reported by Cricbuzz, while all IPL 2021 matches played in India were behind closed doors, UAE could see fans enter up to 50% of the stadium’s capacity. Only those fans
“The vaccinated fans can be allowed up to 50 per cent of the [stadium] capacity,” a UAE board official told Cricbuzz.
The BCCI is in talks with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) to allow fans inside the stadium. Given the fact that most of the population in UAE has been vaccinated, if things go as per plan, fans could be seen cheering for their favourites teams and players in the coming months for the remaining matches of IPL.
The BCCI top brass is already said to have left Dubai to have talks with the ECB as well as the UAE government. Board secretary Jay Shah, treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal, vice-president Rajeev Shukla and joint secretary Jayesh George are the four people who are said to have reached Dubai.
The BCCI office-bearers are said to have left in a charter as the ECB had to seek permission from the UAE government for their arrival given their restrictions for travel to and from India. Upon their arrival, the two parties will discuss the logistical part of the league’s operations. The tentative dates for the second half of the tournament is from September 19-October 10.
Having successfully hosted the entire IPL edition last year, the ECB would be confident of pulling it off yet again. The only difference being that on this occasion, the ECB will have to host just the remaining 31 matches, with more than 100 days in hand to put the preparations in place.
IPL 2021 was suspended indefinitely by the BCCI after a spike in the number of coronavirus cases inside’s IPL’s bio-bubble. Varun Chakravarthy, Sandeep Warrier, Amit Mishra and Wriddhiman Saha were the players who tested positive for the virus within two days which forced the BCCI to take the decision.
