Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) players and support staff will be reaching the United Arab Emirates in the last week of August for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), starting September 19, confirmed the popular franchise's chairman Sanjeev Churiwala.
This will give the touring party enough time to adhere to the quarantine regulations, go through successive COVID-19 testing and train before the start of the annual T20 tournament, which was postponed from its original window in April-May due to the pandemic.
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"All the Indian players and support staff will first assemble in Bengaluru. They will be quarantined in a hotel in Bengaluru for a few days before flying out to the UAE in the last week of August. The players are keen to start practising, so our flight schedule has been worked to ensure adequate time is available to conduct nets in UAE," Churiwala informed the plan to Sportstar.
The franchise chairman added that all personnel will be undergoing tests and be medically cleared before departure. Each player and staff member are being regularly communicated over the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) designed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to safely host the IPL 2020 in the Middle East.
Further, says the report published by Sportstar, "members of all franchises will have to serve a mandatory week-long quarantine before starting on-field preparation (as per the SOP draft). All franchises should appoint a team doctor, who will be responsible for ensuring that bio-secure environment medical guidelines are followed."
"Passengers arriving at UAE are required to carry a negative COVID-19 PCR test report issued no more than 96 hours before their arrival in UAE."
Churiwala said, "The bio-secure bubble in UAE will have strict rules like complete isolation and regular testing. All our players and support staff are now familiar with the rules. Safety and health is paramount."
"In this regard, the SOP draft covers all topics. All points will be fully implemented," he assured.
(Inputs from Sportstar)
