The BCCI is footing the bill for the 14-day quarantine of Australian IPL players, who have arrived here from Maldives, Cricket Australia interim CEO Nick Hockley said on Tuesday. Most of the 38 members of the Australian contingent, including top players such as Pat Cummins and Steve Smith, officials and commentators, landed at the Sydney airport on Monday after a forced stop-over at Maldives.
The players had to spend 10 days in Maldives due to a ban imposed by the Australian government on travellers from COVID-ravaged India till May 15. Hockley said the BCCI has kept its promise and funded the whole operation.
“Yes,” Hockley told ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ when asked if BCCI was paying for the mandatory quarantine. “BCCI at the outset committed to ensuring that they got home safely and as quickly as possible. We’ve been working closely with them. They’ve been fantastic. They’ve delivered on that promise.”
The IPL was indefinitely suspended on May 4 after four players and two coaches from four different teams tested positive for COVID-19 inside its bio-bubble. The Australian players, however, couldn’t head home immediately as their country had imposed a travel ban from India, which is battling a deadly second wave of the coronavirus. The BCCI had then assured the players that it will do everything possible to ensure their safe return home.
“Obviously our thoughts are with all of our friends in India. Then we’ve been working with the government, within the existing frameworks to make sure that they get home as quickly as possible,” Hockley said. “I know the players, having texted a few of them, are extremely appreciative of the BCCI and we’re really pleased that they’re home safely.”
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had earlier said that the players who competed in the IPL will have to make their “own arrangements”.
