IPL 2020 is just a few days away from its initiation and the hype for the mega-event fails to decrease with every passing day. However, amid the excitement and razmataz of the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Coronavirus threat has rocked all sporting events across the globe. Due to its life-threatening effect, the spread of Coronavirus has led to many football games getting played behind closed doors.

Cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai have also expressed concern regarding the organization of matches which will gather a large number of crowd in IPL 2020. Wankhede Stadium is set to host the first game of IPL 2020 between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. Ahead of the much-awaited clash, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope had written to the Centre asking the feasibility of holding IPL games.

“There is always a possible danger of spread (of contagious diseases) when large numbers of people gather in one place… Such (IPL) events can always be organised later,” Tope had said.

Sourav Ganguly had earlier stated that IPL will be executed as planned

In the recent development of news, it has been revealed that the Maharashtra Government has banned the sale of tickets for IPL 2020. In the aftermath of the meeting of Maharashtra’s top ministries, the state government has decided to prohibit the sale of tickets, putting the IPL 2020 opening match in jeopardy. The move has been executed in order to avoid crowd gathering and avoid the spread of deadly Coronavirus.

Karnataka’s Education/Health Minister has also sought guidance from the Center over holding the upcoming IPL matches at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Bengaluru is home to the Virat Kohli-led franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as the Chinnaswamy Stadium hosts all their matches.

Earlier, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had confirmed that the tournament will be executed as planned amid all the concerns related to the spread of Coronavirus. At the same time, the BCCI sources had also stated that they are monitoring the situation. With Karnataka Government also denying to host the matches now, it remains to be seen what stance will BCCI stake to execute IPL 2020 according to its schedule.