Dubai: The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) is confident of living to the expectations of their chairman Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, of delivering the Indian Premier League 2020 without any glitches, according to one of their top officials.
‘‘We have started coordinating with various government departments as well as the three sports councils (Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah) to set the ball rolling,’’ remarked Mubashshir Usmani, General Secretary of the ECB.
The official nod for hosting the 13th edition of the IPL, scheduled to be held in 53-day window from September 19 to November 10, came on Tuesday following the clearance letter from the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan said on Tuesday: “We feel extremely privileged to host what could be considered the pinnacle event of our favourite sport. The magnitude of being in a position to bring the IPL to the vast cricket-loving global community, during current events which have greatly impacted our daily lives, is one we take with extreme importance.
We will try to fast-track the exits of the teams on their arrival at the airport after the PCR tests. Each team will then be taken care of by their respective logistics teams
Speaking to Gulf News in an exclusive chat over phone, Usmani said they are in touch with the Health Ministry to implement the protocols that the UAE government may seek to exercise for the teams, BCCI officials, TV crew and media. ‘‘We will try to fast-track the exits of the teams on their arrival at the airport after the PCR tests. Each team will then be taken care of by their respective logistics teams,’’ Usmani said.
Asked about the contentious issue of entry of fans in the stadia, Usmani said: ‘‘We are speaking with the UAE government and also need to assess BCCI’s stance on the subject. Nothing has been officially decided on the issue.’’
A high level delegation of the BCCI, led in all likelihood by Hemang Amin, the interim CEO of the BCCI and COO of IPL will arrive in the UAE on August 22 for a recce of the venues and hotels.
Meanwhile, education technology company Unacademy, which is already one of IPL’s sponsors, are eyeing the league’s title sponsorship rights now and is set to submit its bid to replace Chinese mobile phone company VIVO this season.
A BCCI official confirmed that Unacademy has picked up the bid papers but refrained from making any comments beyond that.
“I can confirm that Unacademy has shown interest and picked the bid papers. I have heard they will be submitting a bid and are pretty serious. So Patanjali if they bid, will have competition,” the senior official told PTI.
VIVO, which annually paid Rs 440 crore (Dh 150 million), dropped out as title sponsors this year due to the Sino-India border stand-off.
