On Saturday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had a meeting with the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises owners at the headquarters in Mumbai. The board has clarified that the future of IPL 2020 will be decided to keep in mind the best interest of public health amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
On Friday, the BCCI decided to postpone IPL 2020 till April 15 as the tournament was earlier scheduled to commence on March 29 due to coronavirus which has affected more than 80 people in India and has claimed two lives as well so far. In the meeting, the BCCI said that the board along with the IPL franchises “reiterated BCCI’s stand of putting safety and well-being of fans, athletes and employees as a priority”.
regarding the same, BCCI’s press release said, “The board will continue to monitor and work closely with the government of India, state governments and other state regulatory bodies to decide on the future course of action in the best interest of public health.”
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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan said it has been decided that the safety of the people will be kept first. However, all the decisions made by the government and the health agencies will be followed when the 13th edition of India’s biggest money-spinner starts in the near future.
Tweeting about the same, Shahrukh wrote: “Wonderful to meet all the franchise owners ‘off the field’ so to say. The meeting by BCCI and IPL was to reiterate what all of us feel…safety first of the spectators, players management and cities we play in. All directives of the health agencies and government to be followed…”
2/2. Hope the spread of the virus subsides & the show can go on. BCCI & team owners in consultation with the govt will keep a close watch & decide the way fwd in the health interest of ever1. Lovely 2 meet every1 & then sanitise ourselves repeatedly..@SGanguly99 @JayShah #BPatel
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 14, 2020
Describing it further, the KKR co-owner said, “Hope the spread of the virus subsides and the show can go on. BCCI and team owners in consultation with the government will keep a close watch and decide the way forward in the health interest of everyone. Lovely to meet everyone and then sanitize ourselves repeatedly.”
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Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal also tweeted: “Wonderful to meet all the IPL team owners today. Thank you to Sourav Ganguly, Jay Shah and Brijesh Patel for organizing this meeting.”
Wonderful to meet all the @IPL team owners today. Thank you to @SGanguly99 @JayShah and Brijesh Patelji for organizing this meeting. As much as we all want IPL to happen the health and safety of the public, players, staff and all others is of paramount importance – we will (1/2)
— Parth Jindal (@ParthJindal11) March 14, 2020
He further added, “As much as we all want IPL to happen the health and safety of the public, players, staff and all others is of paramount importance, we will continue to monitor the situation and defer to the central government rules and regulations in order to decide next steps. All possible scenarios were discussed however another meeting would be required after a few days to finalize based on the COVID-19 situation.”
Continue to monitor the situation and defer to the central government rules and regulations in order to decide next steps. All possible scenarios were discussed however another meeting would be required after a few days to finalize based on the COVID – 19 situation @DelhiCapitals
— Parth Jindal (@ParthJindal11) March 14, 2020
