CAIT against BCCI holding IPL 2020 in the UAE

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) doesn’t want the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to conduct the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Earlier, the world’s richest cricket board decided that the 53-day event will be taking place in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi from September 19 to November 10.

The CAIT, meanwhile, urged the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar not to give a green signal to the tournament. The CAIT is also not happy with the BCCI deciding to continue with VIVO as the title sponsor either.

CAIT not wanting IPL to take place in Dubai

The CAIT is leading a movement for boycott of Chinese goods. Earlier, the Indian government decided to ban 59 Chinese applications after 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in a cross-border fight with the Chinese troopers.

In the letter, B.C. Bhartia, the CAIT national president and Praveen Khandelwal, the secretary general said that at a time when India’s relationship with China isn’t pleasant, the BCCI’S decision to continue with VIVO was contrary to the government policy.

“We have sent a communication to Shah and Jaishankar, demanding not to give approval to the BCCI for holding the IPL in Dubai,” the CAIT was quoted as saying on The Quint. It also said that it would contradict the government policy.

After the cancellation of events like Olympics and Wimbledon, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they said that the BCCI’s decision must be condemned. CAIT didn’t mince any words in saying that the Indian board’s move reflected its greed for money.

The IPL was scheduled to get underway on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians were set to lock horns in a re-match of the 2019 IPL final. But then the coronavirus pandemic ended up playing spoilsport and the event had to be deferred.

After a lot of deliberations, the decision to host the tournament in the UAE came to the fore. The eight franchises will have to go through COVID testing and a number of other protocols before and during the event.