Following are some of the key norms mentioned in the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) prepared by the Indian cricket board. They will soon send this to IPL franchise owners for the 13th edition of the T20 tournament. The tournament is likely to take place in UAE between September and November.
- The management will not allow the fans inside the stadium at least during the starting phase of the tournament.
- Commentators have to sit six feet apart in studios.
- Not more than 15 players in a dressing room.
- Post-match award presentations will follow social distancing norms
- COVID tests in two weeks for all players.
- Those related to the players, as well as the franchise owners, will have to follow these norms.
- The team won’t be allowed to change hotels once they are allotted.
- Only caterers who have tested negative will be allowed inside the hotels, dressing rooms and other designated areas.
“The BCCI will not decide whether WAGs and family members can travel with the players. We have left it to the franchises. But we have put out a protocol in which everyone, even team bus drivers, can’t leave the bio-bubble,” a BCCI official said.
Most franchises have squads of 20 players or more. Hence, along with sizeable support staff, some of the key guidelines of the SOP are about accommodation.
There is also a possibility that the fans could watch IPL live in action from September. This is because the COVID curved in UAE is expected to flatten by then. But the BCCI isn’t taking any chances and will play the matches behind closed doors at least for the early part of the tournament.