As COVID-19 takeshold, spreading first from China to other parts of Asia and then to Europe and America, crowds and spectacle pose a real threat to public health and well being. Quite rightly, sports administrators have called off the tournaments.
Indian Premier League(IPL) in India is as intrinsic to its monsoons as rains, was scheduled to start from March 29.
After the meeting at the BCCI headquarters, where the board office met with the owners of all eight franchise starting from Kolkata Knight Riders' Shahrukh Khan to Parth Jindal of Delhi Capitals, they came up with the decision of suspending this event till April 15.
IPL is a domestic tournament with the International flavour that include heft of crowd and overseas stars. If it had started from the earlier date, it would lead tensions to the overworked health sectors.
Fans entering into the stadium, cheering, and gathering are at a risk in this situation.
A Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated that mass gatherings should be avoided or postponed till the disease spread is contained. Valued at rupees 47,500 crore, the IPL brand is a huge money spinner but the citizens health and welfare comes first.
"There are a couple of options for a trauncated IPL: Eight teams playing each other just once instead of home and away in the league (32 games, including 4 playoffs) or the teams being divided into groups of four each and playing home and away basis (28 games, including playoffs) can be considered should the need arise", an IPL official said.
However all the possibilities will arise if and when the COVID-19 pandemic subsides in India. Till then BCCI will keep "reviewing the situation every week" as Ganguly admitted.
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