The BCCI anti-corruption unit chief Ajit Singh has said that the upcoming IPL 2020 edition in UAE is going to be comparatively more secure because of the bio-secure environment due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The 13th edition of the IPL will be played for 53 days, from September 19 to November 10, across three venues in the UAE- Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai.

"One can't say whether it is going to be the safest one, but definitely it is going to be better from the anti-corruption point of view because there is going to be no interaction between the teams, support staff, and outsiders. This season is going to be comparatively more secure. But, still, it is not (going to be) foolproof thing," ESPNCricinfo quoted Singh as saying.

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Singh further stated that "They (those making approaches) throng around the hotel, keep sitting in the hotel lobby, come as sponsors asking players to become brand ambassadors, which is basically a cover (for corrupt activity), so that sort of a thing would be avoided this time."

However, Singh said that there is a possibility of players being approached via social media channels.

"Instead of person-to-person communication or direct face-to-face communication, there could be communicated through social media. If somebody approaches me on Facebook and then it starts as an innocent post coming from a fan, ultimately if you find that there is some possibility of being able to compromise the person you might make an attempt. So we have to continue with the (anti-corruption) education," he said.

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However, there is one headache that Ajit Singh will still fight during the IPL 2020 and that is illegal betting.

"We would be monitoring the betting market, how the betting market is going, does it give suspicious trends. And one has to keep the informers active and then also monitor social media," Singh said.

(ANI inputs)