The Coronavirus pandemic has made the whole sporting arena come to a halt. As most of the countries around the world are under the lockdown, many major tournaments and events around the world are either suspended, canceled or are on their way to get cancel.
The much-awaited season of the Indian Premier League was also suspended till 15 April, however, there are a lot of speculations whether the event will take place or not. But it seems like the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasn’t given up hope of hosting this year’s Indian Premier League.
As per the sources, the top officials at BCCI are committed to staging the event by October and have also been paid an advance of Rs 1,500 crore by the broadcasters. If the sources are believed, then the BCCI is looking at a 60-day window from August month-end.
But there are chances that the amount will be carried over to the next year, however, that will involve a lot of legal formalities. A BCCI source was quoted by Sportskeeda, :
“This payment is made as per the contract. The broadcaster has to pay BCCI in advance. Now that IPL isn’t happening in the summer months, BCCI is very hopeful to stage the event at some point at the cost of bilateral ties,”
The source added:
“BCCI is extremely hopeful of staging the event. It won’t be nice to charge the broadcaster if the IPL is cancelled. Of course, the event is insured and it is a matter of deliberation if IPL is cancelled. The board will try and host the event the moment things are normalised as early as August-end to November”
BCCI looks very hopeful for hosting IPL 2020. The source revealed:
“Technically, if the World T20 happens, then the IPL is definitely happening before that if not later,”
