MUMBAI, March 22: The Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament will be held outside India this year after the country’s cricket board failed to secure government approval for its matches due to a clash of schedule with general elections.

Shashank Manohar, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said on Sunday that organisers were looking for a venue outside India after the government refused to approve the IPL schedule because security forces would be occupied with the elections.

The second edition of the annual tournament is set to be held from April 10 to May 24, while the elections for the Indian parliament’s lower house will take place across the country in five different phases between April 16 and May 13.

India’s federal home ministry rejected two proposed itineraries from IPL organisers before advising them to speak with security agencies in the states where matches were to be played.

“We made the best of our endeavours to stage the event in India, but have to move it out of India because of existing conditions,” Mr Manohar said.

Some states gave clearance but a few refused to sanction matches until the elections were over and at least two states changed their decision to permit games, which Mr Manohar said forced the BCCI to look for a foreign venue.

He said the organisers’ options shrank on Saturday when the governments of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh states reversed their earlier decision to approve matches.

Indian interior ministry had suggested the event be deferred to start after the elections, but IPL officials didn’t want to change the dates as it would be difficult to find another slot in a crowded international calendar.

Some players and officials had expressed concerns about playing in the subcontinent after this month’s terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore. India was also the victim of a terror attack at Mumbai in November, which left 165 people dead.

Bangladesh cancelled this month’s tour by Pakistan after authorities said they were unable to provide adequate security to a visiting team in the wake of a mutiny by border guards last month that cost the lives of more than 70 people in Dhaka.—Agencies
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