IPL: No foreign player to be available till April 15
The coronavirus outbreak has turned into a worldwide catastrophe and like many nations, India too is reeling from the same. With over 50-plus positive cases, the government has imposed visa restrictions to curb the coronavirus threat. And now, as per reports, the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 season is set to get impacted by the same. Here is how the IPL could get impacted.
Foreign players can't come till April 15: BCCI source
According to a report, foreign players could miss out the action until April 15. "The foreign players who play in the IPL come under the Business Visa category. As per the government's directive, they can't come till April 15," a source claimed. Yesterday, India announced it was suspending visas till April 15. This doesn't apply to diplomatic, official, UN/International organizations, employment and project visas.
Government suspends visas to curb the threat
The government has issued a fresh advisory with a ban on all existing foreign visas. This decision has been taken to curb the threat of the novel coronavirus. Meanwhile, the IPL Governing Council will hold a meeting on March 14 to discuss the fate of the tournament. Several tournaments, across the world, have been cancelled in the wake of this pandemic.
IPL Governing Council to meet, take some crucial decisions
"All decisions will be taken by the GC in Mumbai," the source said. Meanwhile, the IPL, which is set to start on March 29, could see games being played behind closed doors.
How has the coronavirus has impacted other tournaments?
The coronavirus outbreak in Italy has seen all the major tournaments in the nation get suspended until April 3. Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte announced the decision. Meanwhile, on Monday, the Indian Wells tennis tournament got cancelled over concerns about the spread of coronavirus in Southern California. Besides that, several UEFA Champions League and Europa League games are being played behind closed doors.
Absence of foreign players will hurt IPL badly
Not having foreign players in the tournament till April 15 is a huge blow for the franchises as well as the tournament. This will definitely impact the competitiveness of the cash-rich league. On top of that, if the IPL is played behind closed doors, then the event will lose further shine in the absence of fans.
