Petition filed to stop IPL 2020 from happening in UAE

Indian Premier League 2020 (IPL) which was supposed to kick off from March 29th this year was postponed several times. Now, the pinnacle tournament of T20 leagues around the world will be happening in UAE. The Gulf country has reduced the spread of COVID-19 and that is the reason the middle east country became the preferred choice. The cash-rich league has a brand value of 475 million dollars which was expected to increase this year but the pandemic has taken it to the negative side.

While all the cricket fans of the country are excited for the cricket action to finally get underway, a cricket fan has filed a petition to stop the league from happening in the middle east. The petitioner is said to be a huge cricket fan and he doesn’t want the greatest league to go out of the country to affect the revenue generation.

If the league happens outside India, the revenue loss will definitely be there. As the BCCI and state governments cannot capitalize on the ticket prices revenue and the hotels and other operation staff will not be able to earn with travel and operations of IPL. The Indian league generates a lot of seasonal employment in almost all the big cities of the country.

The name of the petitioner is Abhishek Lagoo and he is an advocate by profession. He has reportedly filed a petition to hold the biggest cricket league in India instead. The reason mentioned is the amount of loss that will be incurred, as reported by Times Now.

“The IPL is not a charity event. The pandemic has created grave difficulties for all businesses. Holding the IPL in India would prove to be a great economic booster which the country needs desperately,” the petition said.

India is leading the chart in terms of daily cases of COVID-19

It is expected to be heard by a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Revati Mohite Dere. The petition further states that as the number of recoveries per day has increased and the central and state governments have given a lot of relaxations, IPL could be held in India instead of UAE.

The idea of having the league in India is contemplated by BCCI as well. The reason for postponing the same several times was taken just to ensure that the extravaganza is played in the home country itself. But as India is leading the chart in terms of a number of daily cases of COVID-19, it seems very difficult to organize the league in India.