New Delhi: In what could be a huge blow to organising the 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), a second meeting of the Group of Ministers on Wednesday cancelled all visas, except for a few official categories, till April 15 in the wake of the growing coronavirus scare.
Over 60 coronavirus cases reported
In the meeting held at Nirman Bhavan here, it was decided that all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/international organisations, employment and project visas, stand suspended till April 15 as the coronavirus outbreak has already seen over 60 positive cases in India.
The coronavirus outbreak was on Wednesday declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), whose chief expressed his “deep concern” over the “alarming levels of inaction” in combating the virus spread.
But the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is still keeping their fingers crossed and have said that they will keep working closely with the concerned departments to ensure that all possible precautions are taken.
“The present scenario is a huge challenge for the BCCI-IPL and it is one where the circumstances are changing every few hours, and the BCCI has no control over these circumstances. As is usually the case in such situations, the BCCI would be in regular touch with the concerned departments to take the best possible course of action in the interest of the game, the players, the fans and the league,” a BCCI official told IANS.
The advisory from the Government of India does speak of exception for official visas and IPL franchises believe that could help as the ban would be for tourists looking to visit the country.
“See, there is an exception being made for those coming to India for official reasons. So we are still hoping that there shouldn’t be a problem in having our foreign recruits over for the tournament. Rest obviously depends on what the government feels is best, as public health is of utmost importance,” the official of an IPL franchise told IANS.
In fact, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had recently made it clear that there was no reason to worry about the fate of the tournament as the board was taking all necessary precautions.
Ministers in Maharashtra and Karnataka have already written to the Centre to put the cash-rich league on hold and the new advisory from the government could see a new twist as far as the fate of the IPL is concerned.
IPL governing council meeting on March 14
IPL governing council announced that it will meet on March 14 to discuss the current situation and the upcoming edition of the league.
The 13th edition of IPL is scheduled to commence on March 29 and the first match will be played between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Earlier on Wednesday, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that the IPL should happen behind closed doors or it should be postponed after 10 positive cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the state. He further added that the final decision will be taken in the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday.
“In the current situation, it is not possible to schedule the IPL match in a packed stadium. We want it to happen in closed doors or postpone it later. The final decision will be taken in the assembly session tomorrow. We all are of the view that IPL should not take place at this time. It is very dangerous to conduct the IPL in this situation,” Tope told reporters.