Severe doubts regarding IPL 2020; MEA advises avoiding IPL matches amid coronavirus outbreak

New Delhi, March 12: Waking ahead in the rising numbers of confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday has expressed its concern to conduct the most anticipated tournament Indian Premier League (IPL). While no foreign player is slated to be available for the event, this has raised many doubts about the possibility of IPL this year which is supposed to start from 29th March.

 

 

The MEA spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar while addressing the media stated that it is up to the IPL organizers to decide whether they want to host the IPL in 2020. Meanwhile, they advised to not go ahead with the enormous T20 tournament. "I think it is for the organizers to decide whether to go ahead with it or not. Our advice would be to not do it at this time but if they want to go ahead, it is their decision", Kumar said.

 

He further added, "For now non-essential travel is banned. But there is no specific details on sporting events. As of now, there is no definitive answer. We will see how things pan out and then advise." It has been already reported that the suspension of all tourist visas will come into effect from tomorrow with a fresh advisory being issued. Due to this, this year, there are possibilities of the IPL event getting canceled due to this suspension. The postponement might happen as several overseas players will be missing from action in the initial stages of the tournament.

However, Maharastra and Karnataka are getting cautious of conducting home matches of Mumbai Indian and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Maharashtra Government has already banned the ticket sales of the opening match of IPL which is between MI and Chennai Super Kings to avoid the gathering of a large number of people. Meanwhile, the Karnataka Government has written to the Centre seeking advice on whether Indian Premier League (IPL) matches should be held in its capital Bengaluru.

 

The latest reports have stated that 60 positive cases have come front due to the outbreak which has led to over 4,000 deaths across 118 countries. The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus a 'pandemic' after the numbers of the cases are increasing at a rapid pace.