IPL to be staged outside India; Dubai ruled out

The Indian Premier League will be held outside India, after organisers failed to obtain security approval from the government.

The much hyped second series of the Twenty20 series clashes with the Indian general elections, which also take place next month.

England is favourites to host the tournament. However, South Africa confirmed it too has been approached by the IPL as potential hosts.

“Due to the attitude of the government that it cannot provide security for the tournament, we are forced to take a decision to move the IPL out of India,” said the country’s cricket chief Shashank Manohar.

“A final decision on the venue will be announced in two to three days,” Manohar added.

The security of cricket matches played in India have come under scrutiny after the recent attacks on Sri Lanka’s players in Lahore.

Dilwar Mani told Arabian Business the country simply did not have the facilities, saying, “The possibility of IPL games being hosted here is non-existent.”

Pakistan and Australia are due to play five ODIs and a Twenty20 match in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, all of which will clash with the IPL schedule.

The IPL has been embroiled in controversies over the past few weeks with Indian television rights also amongst its worries.

Rights holder Multi Screen Media (Sony Entertainment Television) and the IPL were on the verge of settling a row out-of-court last Thursday after the league terminated its contract.

The Sony-IPL row started a few weeks ago when Reliance Communications’ DTH company Big TV decided not to partner with the IPL when MSM awarded the on-air sponsorship rights to Airtel Digital TV.