The Indian Premier League mulled a closed-door edition in a desperate bid to avoid cancellation as Indian sports went into quarantine after a government directive instructed to keep the fans out to prevent the deadly coronavirus pandemic from spreading.
“Ensure that no public gathering takes place in any sporting event. In the event the sporting event cannot be avoided, the same could be done without allowing a gathering of people, including spectators,” read an order from the Sports ministry.
The directive ensured that two One-Day Internationals between India and South Africa in Lucknow and Kolkata respectively were called off. Also, the Board of Control for Cricket in India decided to suspend IPL 2020 till April 15.
The Indian Super League final in Goa and the last day of the Ranji Trophy summit clash in Rajkot were played in front of empty stadiums.
On the IPL, the BCCI maintained a stoic silence but the Sports Ministry dropped enough hints that it could be held in empty stadiums too due to the deadly outbreak. The Ministry of External Affairs has advised the BCCI to not conduct this IPL at this time but if the organisers want to go ahead, it is their decision.
In another major development, the All India Football Federation said that the remaining 28 matches of the I-League, including the marquee Kolkata derby between champions Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, were postponed.
This came a day after organisers of badminton’s India Open, starting March 24, decided they won’t allow spectators this year. However, the Badminton World Federation later suspended all of its tournaments till April 12, meaning the Indian Open was postponed. The ISSF Shooting World Cup and the Indian Open golf tournament are the major events that have been postponed in the Indian sporting calendar so far.
Meanwhile, the Indian boxing team, returning from the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Jordan, will be asked to stay “home-quarantined” even though all the members have got the necessary health clearances.
A total of 13 boxers and almost an equal number of coaching staff returned to India on Thursday after clinching an unprecedented nine Olympic slots in the qualifiers which concluded on Wednesday in Amman.
The coronavirus outbreak has also led to speculation over the fate of the Tokyo Olympics this year. The International Olympic Committee, however, has insisted that the Games will be held as scheduled in July-August.
The number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the country has gone past 100. Globally, the death toll crossed 4,000 and the number of infected continued to swell beyond 100,000.
In Bengaluru, the Sports Authority of India locked down its southern centre as a precautionary measure in the wake of the city recording four coronavirus cases in two days. Also, those training at the facility have been advised not to leave the campus keeping in mind the situation.
Given the health hazard, the government has suspended all regular visas/e-visas granted on or before March 3 to nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan who have not yet entered India. The four countries are worst affected by the outbreak and have been put under varied degrees of lockdown.
The Indian government has also made a 14-day mandatory quarantine for people coming from Korea, Iran and Italy.
According to the advisory, passengers arriving directly or indirectly from China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan must undergo medical screening at the port of entry.
