MUMBAI: The stand-off between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Congress-led UPA government over the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) reached a flashpoint on Sunday, with BCCI announcing that the highly-popular 20-20 tournament will be played outside India because state governments have expressed their inability to provide security to the event, as it clashes with the general elections.

While the dispute was primarily over the difficulty in providing adequate security to IPL matches during the forthcoming general elections, the factional politics of the ruling UPA clearly played a role in the final denouement. In unusually strong remarks, BCCI president Shashank Manohar attributed the shift to the government’s “attitude”. He also singled out the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh for criticism. Politicians reacted on predictable lines, with BJP leaders denouncing the government while Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said elections were bigger than IPL.

Former BCCI president Sharad Pawar’s party NCP has been engaged in tense negotiations with the Congress over seat-sharing in Maharashtra. Mr Pawar, according to sources, tried to meet the government’s top leadership to sort out the IPL issue, but was unable to do so, with some attributing the home ministry’s security concerns to the Congress’ supposed desire to clip Mr Pawar’s wings. Political observers feel these events could further strain Congress-NCP ties. The political undertones have been the sharpest in Maharashtra, with the state home minister, who is from NCP, insisting that security was not a major concern while the state CM — a Congressman — didn’t seem to think so.
Whatever the reason, the upshot is that a major international tournament, globally recognised as a major sporting innovation coming out of India, has been forced to shift outside the country. While the Union home ministry was clearly worried over the security challenges following the attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, it has lost out on the opportunity to showcase India as safe destination for major sporting events.

Frustrated with the seemingly endless negotiations with the central government over the IPL schedule, BCCI has initiated talks with various cricket boards, including South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia and some Middle-East countries. South Africa and England have emerged as the most likely venues, but a final decision is expected by Monday evening.

In a statement BCCI said: “In addition to BCCI, there are other stakeholders in IPL such as players, franchise owners, media partners, team sponsors, venue sponsors and cricket-loving public at large. The first season of IPL had provided employment opportunities to a large number of people at various venues. It had also contributed close to Rs 100 crore to the exchequer. BCCI, therefore, is not in a position to either play a truncated IPL or to cancel the second edition of the IPL.”

source: Economictimes

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