The spread of COVID-19 and the restrictions forced The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to shift the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 to UAE. Back in March, the board had first delayed the league till April 14. Later that month, IPL 2020 was postponed for an indefinite period. As the board was staring at a loss of Rs 4000 crore, it was always open to take the tournament outside.
In July, the BCCI officially announced UAE as the host of the league and by the fourth week of August, the franchises had ferried their players to UAE. Of course, the BCCI would have paid hosting fee and other expenditures to the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB). Back in 2014, ECB had hosted the first 20 matches due to General Elections in India.
But this time, the complete season was played there. Hence, the BCCI had to shell out a mega amount. The BCCI paid 14 million dollars (nearly 100 crore) to ECB to stage the league. ECB was the first board to come up with the proposal and it made big gains. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) was another board which had proposed to stage IPL 2020.
The tournament was played across three venues: Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. No fan was allowed in the stands. Players who weren’t in the scheme of things were seen sitting in the stands.
UAE has also been discussed as a potential venue for the India-England series.
