Health and safety of all parties involved remain the topmost priority as BCCI is gearing up to conduct the second phase of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in UAE from September 19 to October 15.
According to a report published in ANI, the Indian board’s health advisory lays down all the pointers that everyone associated with the tournament needs to obey in order to ensure the smooth functioning of the cash-rich league.
See Also: BCCI tells franchises to ensure full COVID-19 vaccination of all members traveling to UAE
The 46-page health advisory, accessed by ANI, recommends that all franchises will have to quarantine for six days before entering the bio-bubble.
BCCI has also decided to set up 14 bio-bubbles and out of these 14, 8 would be for the franchises.
"Within the Bio-Secure Environment, 14 bubbles will be created as mentioned below: Franchise teams and support staff - 8 Bubble, Match Officials & Match Management Team - 3 Bubbles, Broadcast Commentators and crew - 3 Bubbles."
"All franchise team members must quarantine in their hotel room for 6 full days before entering the bubble. Upon arrival and before commencing any group training activities, all team members who will be included in the bubble will follow the below mentioned COVID-19 RT-PCR testing plan. A nasopharyngeal swab will be taken for testing. Test reports are available within 8-12 hours after sample collection," states the health advisory.
The report further says the BCCI has laid down strict instructions that everyone in the bubble must travel through dedicated vehicles only.
"During the IPL 2021, members within a bubble must travel only in the dedicated vehicles from a fleet of buses and cars accredited by BCCI, which will be sanitised regularly. The drivers of all such vehicles will also be in the respective bubbles, tested regularly for COVID-19, and undergo temperature screening," states the advisory.
Just like last year, the BCCI has approved the bubble-to-bubble transfer, which means that the players coming from the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be able to enter the IPL bubble straight away.
"Players and team support staff coming directly from the bubble created for the England vs India series, Sri Lanka vs South Africa series and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) may be permitted to join the franchise squad without serving the mandatory quarantine period, provided they satisfy the below-mentioned criteria. Commentators and broadcast crew who are working on the above three series' can also avail bubble to bubble transfers provided they satisfy the criteria," states the advisory.
As for media and fans, the advisory says: "The general public including media persons will not have access to the bubble facilities as well as stadiums for any activities. In addition, each agency and venue involved must risk assess their environment and associated processes as they ordinarily would."
The Doping Control Personnel (DCP) will also adhere to the same COVID-19 protocols as followed by the franchise teams, before and after arrival in the UAE.
A total of 31 matches will be played in the UAE-leg of IPL 2021, which got underway in April in India but was postponed on May 4 after the completion of 29 matches due to COVID-19 positive cases in bio-bubbles of multiple franchises.
(With ANI inputs)
