Good news for disabled IPL fans ahead of the league

Here is a good news for the specially abled fans of the Indian Premier League (IPL). During last year’s IPL, many specially abled fans returned home with disappointed from the Wankhede Stadium since it did not have sufficient facilities for them. However, that will not be repeated this year and the enthusiasts can flock Mumbai’s most popular cricket stadium without any apprehensions.

The venue operations team and Mumbai Indians’ representatives along with Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) officials met last Monday and took decisions to make special arrangements for physically-challenged fans at the Wankhede premises.

Making arrangements does only imply building ramps for wheelchairs but, also offering proper seating arrangements and more significantly, washroom facilities. The MCA is looking into these details and working towards sorting everything before the first match at the venue on April 9 between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders.

Speaking about the development, MCA Joint Secretary Dr PV Shetty said: “Yes, we had a meeting in this regard on Monday and now we are identifying the areas where we can make special arrangements for physically challenged people so that they can come and enjoy the match without any hassles.”

The MCA is ensuring that it is not just a one-time makeshift arrangement for the IPL but a permanent one that will facilitate the fans even during international matches.

Shetty said: “This provision is there for international matches too, but not many people know about it and so we don’t get too many enquiries. But since we had some disabled fans during last year’s IPL, we decided to make special arrangements for them this time.”

The IPL governing council, it is understood, has sent out instructions to every IPL-staging association to make arrangements for the physically challenged fans and facilitate their presence during matches which shows their deep love for the game.

The Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium, took note of this and designated an area on the second floor for the specially abled. There will also be a lift and volunteers to aid these fans.