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Nothing is in favour of any kind of sport, forget IPL: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Apr 13, 2020, 01:52 PM IST
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File photo of Sourav Ganguly when he was speaking during a press conference at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on October 23, 2019. Photograph:(AFP)

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The BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has given a major statement on the future of IPL 2020 as he said "nothing is in favour of any kind of sport anywhere in the world, forget IPL."

With almost the entire world going under lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19, sporting calendar for the year 2020 has been ripped into pieces. Some of the biggest tournaments have already been either cancelled or postponed and all eyes are on the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, which was originally scheduled to start from March 29 before getting postponed till April 15. 

With the situation surrounding COVID-19 in India deteriorating with each passing day, the future of IPL 2020 has been left hanging in balance. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly has said that they are monitoring developments while adding nothing is in favour of any kind of sport in the world, forget IPL. 

The former Indian captain further said that he will provide an official statement on the future of IPL on Monday (April 13) after discussing the latest developments with other office-bearers of the BCCI. However, Ganguly hinted it is highly improbable that the cash-rich tournament will take place this year as he said: “when life has come to a standstill, where does sport have future in this.”

“We keep monitoring developments. At the present moment, we can’t say anything. And what is there to say anyway? Airports are shut, people are stuck at home, offices are locked down, nobody can go anywhere. And it seems this is how it's going to be till the middle of May. Where will you get players from, where do players travel? It’s just simple common sense that at the moment, nothing is in favour of any kind of sport anywhere in the world, forget IPL,” Ganguly told a leading daily.

“I will be able to give an update on that on Monday after speaking to the other office-bearers (of BCCI). But practically speaking, when life has come to a standstill everywhere in the world, where does sport have a future in this,” he added.

Reflecting on the current situation surrounding coronavirus, Ganguly said the world has never seen anything like this while hoping nobody sees this sort of situation again in their lifetime. 

“It’s terrible. In my 46 years of life, I never experienced anything like this. Not just that, the world has never seen anything like this. And I hope nobody sees this situation again. The entire world is thinking how many people may die in the next two weeks! It’s unbelievable,” the BCCI president said. 

Earlier, there were reports which said the BCCI is looking for an alternate window during August and September to conduct IPL 2020 which could lead to postponement or cancellation of Asia Cup 2020.  

Meanwhile, COVID-19 has now infected  1,853,155  people worldwide and 114,247 people have been killed due to this pandemic. Whereas, The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India has risen to 9152, including 308 deaths, as of Monday morning.