The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to decide the future of the IPL 2020 amid the coronavirus outbreak on Saturday. The meeting will also be attended by all franchise owners, along with the IPL Governing Council members. The BCCI, currently, has two options – to either postpone the event or play it behind closed doors. Only in the worst-case scenario will the IPL be cancelled, according to sources.
The Government of India had earlier suspended visas to foreigners to India till April 15 as a part of the measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus. This has also put the future of this year’s tournament in doubt as franchises will not be eager to play the first fifteen days of the event without their big stars. The IPL this year begins from March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium. Chennai Super Kings were scheduled to take on defending champions Mumbai Indians in the opener.
“Yes, foreign players will not be available. We will discuss this and other issues at our governing council meeting scheduled for March 14,” a source in IPL governing council had told ANI.
The World Health Organisation had declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, which has caused a huge worry across the globe. Several sporting events, like the NBA, La Liga, F1 events, tennis matches have either been cancelled or postponed. There is a huge question mark over the staging of the Japan Olympics that starts from July 24 this year. A final decision on that, however, will be taken in May.
The coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December and has spread all around the globe since then, with more than 4700 people dead. More than 68,000 people have recovered, while the numbers in India is relatively lower, with 73 positive cases.
