IPL 2020 cleared to take place in the UAE starting in September

The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Governing Council have been granted government approval for their plans to stage the T20 showpiece in the UAE.

The Indian government have agreed to the IPL’s request to stage the tournament outside of its home country for the third time.

IPL 2020 cleared 

In 2009 the tournament was hosted in South Africa due to religious and political tensions in India while in 2014 the start of the IPL was staged in the UAE because of fears that the general election could spark violence around large events like cricket matches.

The IPL governing council met on Sunday to finalise some details of the hosting of the 2020 edition of the tournament.

The IPL usually takes place in March and April every year with one of the most well-defined playing windows in the world of cricket but the pandemic forced the postponement of the richest domestic cricket tournament in the world.

Among the details on the IPL Governing Council’s agenda was the size of squads that would be allowed as well as how to handle prospective cases of the global nightmare.

The council agreed that squads would be limited to a maximum of 24 players with unlimited COVID-19 substitutes permitted.

Organisers confirmed that there would be ten IPL double-header match days in the six-week event with night matches starting at 18:00 local time (16:00 SAST).

Vivo on board

The IPL confirmed that Chinese company Vivo would remain lead sponsor despite tensions between India and the superpower with whom they share a disputed border. That conflict has resulted in cross-border skirmishes between military forces with India confirming at least 20 soldiers killed while China has refuted claims of 40 fatalities on their side in the conflict at the Galwan River valley.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had been hopeful of staging the tournament at home, but the country has been hit hard by the coronavirus with more than 1.75 million confirmed cases to date.

UAE to host IPL

Last month the BCCI announced its intention to host the tournament abroad with the UAE and Sri Lanka considered as hosts. It would soon be confirmed that the IPL intended to host the tournament in the Emirati cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Abe Dhabi has already staged major international events during the pandemic, being home to UFC’s Fight Island events, which went off without any major incidents.

Cricket resumed last month when England hosted the West Indies in a three-match Test series played inside a bio-bubble.