NEW DELHI (India): Top BCCI officials got in touch with the Ministry of Sports to assess the coronavirus situation ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which begins on March 29.
Earlier, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel ruled out any threat to the IPL due to COVID-19.
The BCCI officials held a teleconference with their Sports Ministry counterparts to seek advice on the health impact ahead of the IPL, which begins on March 29.
“The BCCI is having some internal meetings and wanted to assess the situation arising out of coronavirus. They are collecting all the data and would be taking an appropriate decision in the next 2-3 days,” a news agency was quoted as saying.
The IPL will see 60-odd players from countries like Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and the Caribbean – regions where cases of coronavirus have been very few.
The BCCI has so far denied that IPL could be impacted because of the virus. Patel said they are assessing the situation, but Ganguly said the BCCI hasn’t even ‘discussed the issue.’
Apart from BCCI, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) also consulted the sports ministry ahead of shooting World Cup here from March 16.
The visa restrictions imposed by the government in the aftermath of the coronavirus means close to a dozen nations, including China, Italy, Iran and Italy, will not be competing.
The tournament was dealt a further blow after International Shooting Sport Federation decided to strip off ranking points that were on offer at the event because of the withdrawals.
