'No word on meeting with IPL GC, happy that govt approval has come'

Mumbai Indians players celebrate after winning the 2019 IPL edition. Pic/AFP

The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises are yet to hear from the Governing Council when it comes to the date for a formal meeting between the two with an eye on the 13th edition of the league. But the teams are happy to have been informed that government approval has come in and the teams are looking to finish off all logistical decision-making as they gear up to hit UAE around the last week of August.

Speaking to IANS, an official of one of the franchises said that while the governing council is yet to inform them about the meeting between the teams and the IPL GC, the franchises have been informed about the government approval coming in.

"We have no word yet on meeting with the governing council, but happy to know that the approval has come in from the government. So, we are actually now looking at the logistics and finishing the planning part. We have started getting our visas done and all the hotels and travel agency bookings have also been done for when the team reaches UAE. Hopefully, we will have a meeting soon to clear a few doubts that we have after going through the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) handed to us," the official said.

Echoing the sentiments, another franchise official said that the focus is now on the logistical part since precaution needs to be taken when it comes to the bio-secure environment.

"We are yet to hear from the board on the official meeting, but in the meantime, we are looking at finishing off with the logistics. You can say that we did a recce of sorts sitting in India and then went ahead and completed all bookings when it comes to hotels and buses. Also, we have asked for a medical check on the personnel who will be working closely with the players and support staff be it with room service or any other issue in the UAE," the official explained.

"We are hoping to have a meeting with the GC also this coming week and we can then discuss a few of the points that we discussed in the last meeting of the franchises and get better clarity."

The 8 teams had an informal meeting via teleconference on Wednesday and the major issues discussed was player replacement, logistics and concerns over a title sponsor. But as reported by IANS, eyes are on the likes of Amazon and Unacademy when it comes to looking at prospective bidders who could actually come in for the title sponsor's seat that has been left vacant after BCCI and Vivo decided to suspend their relation with an eye on the backlash from the fans after the Chinese company was retained as title sponsor.

While the franchises are continuing with their preparations, they are also waiting for an official meeting with the IPL GC to get a hang of the situation. The BCCI is expected to start the process of roping in a new title sponsor in a day or two.

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