BCCI gets External Affairs Ministry nod to stage IPL 2020 in UAE

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has received the much-awaited go-ahead from the Ministry of External Affairs to stage the Indian Premier League 2020 in the UAE.

The permission formally clears the decks to move the cash-rich league out of India in the wake on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Home Affairs’ nod is expected by the end of the day on Friday. The Ministry, however, in principle has okayed the BCCI application, SportzFront has learned. The formal document will be issued in a day or two.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports was the first to give it “no objection” to move the IPL out of India.

The IPL games this year will be staged across three venues in the Emirates – Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.

The UAE has also hosted the IPL partially in 2014 when India was going to general elections and ministry had declined a security clearance for the entire duration of the league.

The Ministry nod, reported by Gulf Times, has incidentally coincided with the BCCI announcement to suspend its Chinese title sponsor Vivo.

Subsequently, Vivo has also opted out of the title sponsorship deal with the Pro Kabaddi league.

Also read: Vivo also opts out of PKL title sponsorship

The BCCI will now invite bids for the title sponsorship of the IPL 2020. Amazon, Byju’s and Reliance Jio are being seen as the potential brands to replace Vivo.

The board is expected to suffer a loss of up to ₹ 200 crores. In a bleak market scenario, no brand is expected to match Vivo’s ₹ 440 crore

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