The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just over a fortnight away. The upcoming edition of the league gets underway on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Defending champions Mumbai Indians will take on arch-rivals The upcoming edition of the league gets underway on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Plea filed in Madras High Court against IPL 2020
But even before the IPL could start, there are huge doubts over it happening because of the coronavirus outbreak all across the globe. In the latest turn of events, a plea has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the central government not to allow the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to conduct IPL matches due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The PIL which is filed by advocate G Alex Benziger is likely to come up before a division bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and Krishnan Ramaswamy on March 12. The petitioner said, “As on date, as per the website of the World Health Organisation, there was no specific medicine or to prevent or to treat the COVID-19.”
The petitioner also said that the Italy Federation League, one of the oldest leagues in the world, has been severely affected and the football games were being played behind closed doors with no fans allowed at any football ground until April 3 by the Italian government.
According to the petitioner, the coronavirus was spreading all over the world rapidly and creating a huge epidemic disaster. The petitioner said he had sent a representation to authorities not to allow the BCCI to conduct IPL T20 cricket matches. He further added that as there was no response, he filed the present plea.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Minister of Medical Education K. Sudhakar has written a letter to the Center seeking advice on what to do about IPL matches to be played in Bangalore. He said, “I wrote to the Center saying that there are IPL parties scheduled to take place in Karnataka and that Maharashtra has already made a decision on this. We have asked the Center for guidance on what steps we should take.”
Earlier, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope had raised concerns over the coronavirus outbreak and felt that the IPL can be organized later. He had said, “There is always a possible danger of spread (of contagious diseases) when large numbers of people gather in one place… Such (IPL) events can always be organized later.”
More than 50 folks have been contracted the virus in India with Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, and Ladakh being the states affected up to now. Notably, the majority of the IPL matches will likely be performed in 7 of the affected states in India over the course of two months.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is making an attempt the whole lot in its energy to carry the IPL on the scheduled dates with president Sourav Ganguly even confirming to India Today that the match is not going to be postponed and all essential precautions will likely be taken by the board. He said, “It’s on…and BCCI will take all protection (against coronavirus).”
