Cricket Australia secure a loan of 50 million USD to cover losses in case of India series getting cancelled

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on human existence. More than 2 lakh deaths across the world have occurred due to the coronavirus outbreak and most governments have enforced lockdown to tackle the situation. Along with human existence, the pandemic has also affected the sporting scenario across the globe.

All major sporting tournaments have either been called off or postponed in the wake of the pandemic. Be it IPL 2020 or Tokyo Olympics, major sporting events have been hampered due to the coronavirus outbreak. Due to the current situation, many cricket boards have incurred losses due to the inactivity in the cricketing scenario. Major cricket boards including ECB, CA as well as BCCI are expected to suffer due to the pandemic.

Cricket Australia (CA) is staring at losing a staggering 300 million AUD in the wake of the pandemic and India’s four-Test tour in December-January could provide relief to the board. Former Australia player Shane Watson, who is the president of Australian Cricketers’ Association Board, will be conducting a meeting next week to discuss about the finances aspect.

Australia is also slated to host T20 World Cup 2020

In the recent development of news, Cricket Australia has secured a loan of USD 50 million, an upfront payment as part of a larger USD 200 million credit, which will aim to cover the losses of their series against India gets cancelled altogether. According to a report published in ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’, stakeholders have been informed that the loan with the Commonwealth Bank is a “done deal”.

However, it has also raised questions about the functioning of the board as CA recently laid off staff in the wake of the pandemic. CA stood down more than 200 staff on 20 per cent pay until the end of June. Furthermore, chief executive Kevin Roberts also stated that the board is fearing to run out of money by August if drastic pay cuts are not made.

At a time when the financial condition of all the boards has been severely hit, the India series will serve as a breath of fresh air for Cricket Australia. Australia has two major events lined up to recover themselves from the financial losses caused by the pandemic. T20 World Cup 2020 and Test series against India are those two major events.

According to reports, the Australian board authorities are even ready to provide the Indian team with a new luxury hotel with training facilities when they tour the country. The Indian players will undergo their mandatory quarantine during this period. Setting up the base in the luxury hotel would help players to avail top training facilities during their 14-day quarantine time.