The UAE has emerged as one of the front runners to host IPL 2014 after general elections in India forces BCCI’s flagship to move outside country.
India will hold the general elections in April which has forced the IPL governing council and team franchises to find an alternative due to fears over security, according to a BCCI officials reports Gulf News.
BCCI’s backup plan features four countries as an alternative— the UAE, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Bangladesh.
The latter two were the favourites initially but now it seems that the BCCI is finalizing on the UAE and Bangladesh, with matches expected to be held in two countries.
David East, CEO of Emirates Cricket Board and Abu Dhabi Cricket Club, declined to comment when asked about this huge development.
“I wouldn’t like to confirm or comment on this at the moment,” he said.
The primary reason for choosing the UAE and Bangladesh over South Africa is to keep team expenses to a minimum after concerns were raised during a meeting in Singapore late last year where all the franchises refused to play IPL outside India for the second time after 2009.
But BCCI fears that the central government could refuse to provide security personnel would make the switch unavoidable. If everything, as reported by Gulf news, falls into place it would be a fillip for cricket especially in the – UAE.