The coronavirus pandemic is going to cost a huge sum of money to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as they failed to ensure the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). As of now, the IPL this year has been postponed indefinitely due to the ongoing coronavirus-enforced lockdown in India.

According to a research report by the Howden Insurance Brokers, a private organization that brokers insurance deals for several IPL teams, by the time BCCI contacted their insurance company, it had removed COVID-19 from their coverage clause.

ALSO READ: Gautam Gambhir And Irfan Pathan Condemns Palghar Mob-lynching

Not only BCCI, but several IPL franchises prefer to do the insurance if things go south. They also began approaching their respective insurance firms only by February-March and by then, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Consequently, either the cover was unavailable or the cost was too much to pay for.

Describing the same, one of the reports of Hindustan Times read: “The franchises involved in IPL approached the insurance market from February-March 2020 as they have training camps beginning mid-March. Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and the WHO declaring a pandemic, 90% of the franchises were not provided insurance cover. Typically, immediately following an outbreak, the cover becomes unavailable or quite expensive.”

The leading English daily further quoted chief executives of two IPL teams on the condition of anonymity as confirming they aren’t covered.

ALSO READ: BCCI ACU Head Speaks on Bookies Approach to Players

Describing the same, the BCCI official said, “We checked with our insurance company. The cancellation clause does not cover the pandemic. It’s too late now. We will see what’s the legal interpretation of force majeure in this scenario. The government has enforced a lockdown, and the BCCI can do nothing but wait for things to improve.”

The total loss for the stakeholders reportedly could be around ₹5,000 crores.