Both BCCI and UAE are awaiting official permission from the Indian government.
Many more things will be discussed in the all-important IPL governing council meeting which will take place on August 2. The development was confirmed to Mumbai Mirror by IPL chairman Brijesh Patel.
The newspaper also revealed that though a formal approval from the Government of India to move the IPL to the UAE is yet to come, the consultations with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) are continuously on. Discussions are also on to break the current worldwide practice of having matches behind closed doors.
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The Emirates board is very keen to have crowds in all three venues where the IPL matches will be played- Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi.
The ECB has sent the profiles of all the three stadiums to the BCCI. It will be a combined (BCCI and ECB) decision no doubt but the final word will be with the government of the UAE.
“We’re quite open to having the crowds for the games. That would be fair too, given that there are a lot of Indians and cricket fans in the UAE. We will work things out with our government but before that the BCCI will have to have the approval of the Government of India. Once that is done, we will start working towards the league. We will make a grand spectacle of the IPL,” a high ranking Emirates official told Mumbai Mirror.
BCCI has also being requested to confirm the expected squad counts of each franchise and BCCI officials to ensure the smooth processing of visas. The IPL will be played from September 19- November 8 in the Emirates.
On the other hand, the Chennai Super Kings franchise is looking to fly out to the UAE early for training which will be confirmed after they get SOPs and other instructions from the BCCI in order to confirm their travel plans.
“We intend to go early to the UAE but we need clearances from the BCCI and visas for all the members. We can’t say whether it will be August 10 or 12 but the idea is to reach there early,” Kasi Viswanath, the top official of the franchise, said. CSK wants to have a squad of about 50 members (including players, support staff, franchise officials, and owners).
Other franchises are planning to leave for the UAE around August 15-20.
(Mumbai Mirror inputs)