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Indian government says no to IPL during Elections: report
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Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has conveyed the government's inability to provide security during the Indian Premier League's season 7 that coincides with the General Elections in the country, Mumbai Mirror reported on Friday.
According to the report, the Home Minister himself informed this to a BCCI delegation in New Delhi late on Wednesday night. As a result, the BCCI will now have to move either part or whole of IPL7 out of India, with South Africa and UAE in the race to be the alternate destination.
BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel and IPL chairman Ranjib Biswal reportedly met Shinde on Wednesday. Also accompanying Patel and Biswal were Rajeev Shukla, another central minister and a former chairman of the IPL, the report said.
"We've been told that forces will have to be moved to different parts of the country and it will not be possible for the government to help us in this matter. The central and state security forces will be spared after and before the elections," Patel told Mumbai Mirror.
South Africa was the venue for IPL in 2009, when the league moved out of India due to the same reason, and SA's infrastructure and past experience makes it the frontrunner to host the 2014 edition.
The Mumbai Mirror report also said that the BCCI may invite quotations from Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the cricket board in the UAE, and Patel confirmed this. "We will ask the UAE board and CSA to tell us their plans for the IPL. We will take a final call on February 28," Patel was quoted as saying.
The IPL has tentatively been scheduled between April 9 and June 3, while the Elections are also expected around the same time.
