The start of IPL 2020 has been postponed due to concerns over coronavirus. The IPL series has been moved to April 15th 2020. Coronavirus has spread in the world like fire and India has also confirmed a lot of cases of coronavirus. Due to health concerns and fear of further spread of coronavirus Indian government has taken this drastic step to postpone the event.
The Board of control of cricket in India ( BCCI) has taken this precautionary measure because of concerns and fear of the coronavirus spread in the country. The BCCI gave an official statement regarding the postponing news of the event. Delhi government also announced that they will not be allowing any sporting activity in the city. The cricket board said in a statement “The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to suspend IPL 2020 till 15th April 2020, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) situation.”
“The BCCI is concerned and sensitive about all its stakeholders and public health in general, and it is taking all necessary steps to ensure that, all people related to IPL including fans have a safe cricketing experience.”
“The BCCI will work closely with the Government of India along with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and all other relevant Central and State Government departments in this regard.”
The Delhi chief minister Manish Sisodia gave a statement and said that Delhi will not allow any event that includes more than 200 people. Further notice would be required to hold any such event in Delhi. The purpose of the cancellation of all events is due to the threat of the epidemic spread of COVID-19.
IPL was one of the most awaited events that were to be held in India and the viral spread of coronavirus and the cancellation of the event have disappointed cricket lovers all over India. India is not the only country that has cancelled an event due to coronavirus concerns. Countries including Japan, South Korea, Europe and USA have also cancelled some major events due to fears of the coronavirus spread.
ESPNcricinfo has declared that if the situation become clear till mid April the series will be rescheduled to April 16 to June 5. The BCCI is led by Saurav Ganguly and Jay Shah and the decision to postpone the event was taken by them because they are the top management team of the IPL series. The management team of the IPL has sent an official notice to all the 8 franchise that are participating in the series. The management officials are also scheduled to meet the franchise owner this Saturday to further brief about the series getting postponed.
The BCCI said that they are planning to suspend the series so that they can provide a safe cricketing experience to the fans and the players who are going to participate in the series. The Indian government has declared that they are taking all the necessary steps to contain and control the coronavirus spread in the country. The first and foremost concern is the public’s health and that is what matter the most right now. Coronavirus was declared as an epidemic by the World Health organization and IPL has now joined the league of NBA and ATP tour that have already been affected by the coronavorus outbreak in all parts of the world.
Coronavirus is a highly contagious disease has spread all over the world and world health organization has released guidelines to avoid any gatherings that consist of a lot of people.
