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NEW
DELHI: Nothing seems to be going right at this stage for the
second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the multi-million
dollar Twenty:20 tournament which has attracted the captains
of Indian industrialists including Mukesh Ambani's Reliance
Industries Ltd. to invest in team franchisees.
The
sponsorship fracas between the IPL management, Reliance ADAG's
Big TV and Sony Entertainment Television (now called Multi
Screen Media) has triggered the first of a series of misfortunes.
While the economic downturn is impacting sponsorship revenues,
today's terror strike on Sri Lankan players in Pakistan has
once again raised the issue of security.
Home
minister Chidambaram wants the IPL organisers to postpone
the tournament so that it does not clash with the country's
general elections. The state machinery will be too stretched
to provide security for both the IPL, which spreads across
nine cities, and the nationwide elections.
"I
have asked the home secretary to get in touch with the IPL
organisers," Chidambaram told the CNN-IBN news channel.
"Since, the election dates are unalterable, I have asked
to find out if the dates of the IPL can be rescheduled. I
would be happy if the tournament starts when the bulk of the
polls is over."
The
IPL management, however, does not want to disturb the tournament
window between 10 April and 24 May while agreeing to reschedule
some matches that clash with the polling dates.
Says
IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi, “We are going
ahead as per schedule. The IPL is fully cognizant of the importance
of general elections in a country such as ours. We will go
a step further to ensure that there will be no games 24 to
48 hours prior to the polling dates across all the nine match
venues in the country. As indicated earlier, IPL will work
with the State and the local authorities to ensure the smooth
and successful conduct of the tournament. We will announce
the new reworked schedule in the next 24 hours.”
The IPL and the home ministry will review the IPL schedule
on Wednesday. In a crowded international calendar, the IPL
authorities may, however, find it difficult to shift the dates
of the tournament. And it needs no saying that big bucks are
riding on the IPL.
Also
Read:
IPL
to adjust schedule for Lok Sabha elections
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