Reiffel will now continue officiating in the IPL 2021 before leaving with Australian contingent after May 30.
The 1999 World Cup-winning Australian player had decided early this week to cut short his stint officiating in the IPL and fly home while he had the chance. He had his bags packed and tickets booked for a flight to Sydney from Doha - only to be told he would have to stay.
If he had left the bio-bubble of IPL 2021, he would have been left stranded in India, with the second wave of COVID-19 raging throughout the country.
“I tried to, but the flight through Doha, I wasn’t able to go through as an Australian. They shut the avenue off. I know a couple of the guys got back that way through there, but the avenue was closed so I had to stay. Yesterday I was booked to go, but it got canceled. I thought I’d take the opportunity when I could because you don’t know what’s going to happen later on,” Reiffel told the Herald and The Age on Thursday from his hotel in Ahmedabad.
Along with Reiffel, Nitin Menon also pulled out of the IPL 2021 after his family tested positive for COVID-19 and has returned back to his home in Indore. Reiffel however, will now serve out the remainder of the competition and return home with the remaining 40-strong Australian contingent after the tournament finishes on May 30.
IPL 2021: Umpires Nitin Menon and Paul Reiffel opt out of IPL 14 amid COVID-19 crisis in India
Australian players Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa were due to land in Melbourne on Thursday after quitting the IPL.
“I was 10 minutes away from leaving the bubble, so I’m very lucky,” Reiffel a father of three said, as if he had left the hotel before finding out the change in travel plans, he would have been in a lot of trouble.
This would have resulted in him requiring to complete a period of self-isolation in order to be able to complete the tournament.
Unlike the players, some of whom are paid millions for just under two months’ work, umpires cannot command such fees. Reiffel would normally be traveling the world officiating in international fixtures, but the opportunities have dried up since the onset of the pandemic last year.
“It’s how I make a living. In these COVID times I haven’t umpired a lot so any opportunity to get some work, you take it. You know any travel can end up any which way. It’s how I make a living. To knock back work, you just can’t afford to. You have to look at everything and try and weigh it up. When I accepted and it all started, it was a very different landscape.
It escalated pretty quickly but that’s what happens with COVID. It happens quickly and a lot of the times you can’t see it happening,” Reiffel said.
Reiffel now admitted that he felt safe in the IPL 2021 bio-bubble at a five-star hotel that accommodated all the officials and players.
(Sydney Morning Herald inputs)