With the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League postponed, Cricket Australia’s interim Chief Executive Officer Nick Hockley has said that every arrangement is being made to repatriate the Australian contingent as soon as possible. Hockley went on to add that Sri Lanka and Maldives are the two places that have been zeroed in on for the Australian contingent to move to from India before they return home since direct flights from India to Australia have been stopped with an eye on the second COVID-19 wave.

“We’re working on arrangements to repatriate all the players, the support staff, umpires, commentators as quickly and as safely as possible. What we’re working to do and what the BCCI are working to do, and they’ve been incredibly cooperative, is working to move the entire cohort out of India.

“So the BCCI has been working on a range of options. That’s now narrowed down to the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The BCCI are working through the final details of that at the moment and we expect that movement will happen in the next two to three days,” he told reporters on Wednesday. Hockley went on to praise the BCCI and the Indian board’s effort to get the Australian players back to their homes. “I would say the BCCI have been absolutely fantastic. So they’re committed to not only the first movement to either the Maldives or Sri Lanka but they’re also then committed to putting on a charter to bring them back to Australia,” he said.

Asked if Cricket Australia regrets letting the players go for this year’s IPL, Hockley said: “No, I don’t think so. I mean, our hearts go out to everyone in India. Clearly, I mean, I think the IPL, you know, they put so much work, so much effort into putting on the tournament. They obviously did that on the best-available information at the time and they’ve come to the decision over the last 24 hours that it’s in everyone’s — well, in the interests of the health and safety of everyone to suspend the tournament indefinitely. “At the moment — I was on the phone to my counterpart less than an hour ago and I can’t speak more highly for how the BCCI but also all of the franchises have worked to look after our players and put in plans to make sure that they get home safely and as quickly as possible.”Asked if Hockley thinks there’ll be animosity if the players get to fly home in a charter, he said: “The BCCI are putting in place the best-possible arrangements.

We’re not seeking any kind of special exemptions whatsoever. We will — any kind of quarantine arrangements would be over and above the cap. So our main priority is we would work with the Australian Government and the relevant state governments to make sure that we’re not taking spaces of anyone else that’s available. “So, you know, certainly that’s what we’re committed to do. I’d also add to that, that the last 12 months around the globe, we’ve seen all professional athletes travel differently and charter flights maybe two years ago would have seen a different type of commentary than what we would see today. The reality is we’re going to try to keep them as safe as possible and if that’s available to it, I don’t think we should shy away from that.”

India captain Virat Kohli has held on to his fifth spot in the latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen.In the rankings which got updated on Wednesday, Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne on Wednesday closed in on a top-10 spot after a successful second Test against Bangladesh in Kandy which his side won by 209 runs to clinch the two-match series 1-0. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is currently at the top of the rankings. Karunaratne struck 118 and 66 in the second Test, moving up four slots to 11th position in the list led by Williamson.

Karunaratne’s career-best ranking is sixth, attained in August 2019. He is the top-ranked Test batsman from Sri Lanka with Angelo Mathews next in the list in 24th position.

Niroshan Dickwella (up to four places to 31st), Oshada Fernando (up to 10 places to 58th) and Lahiru Thirimanne (up to 13 places to 60th) are the other Sri Lanka batsmen to advance while left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama’s player of the match haul of 11 for 178, the best figures by a Sri Lankan on Test debut, sees him enter the rankings in 48th position.Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal’s knocks of 92 and 24 have helped him gain three places to reach 27th position while Mushfiqur Rahim and captain Mominul Haque have inched up a slot each to reach 21st and 30th positions, respectively, in the latest rankings. Pakistan fast bowler Hasan Ali’s haul of nine for 89 in the first Test against Zimbabwe in Harare not only won him the player of the match award for starring in the innings victory but also enabled him to gain 15 slots and reach a career-best 20th position among bowlers. Left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi (up to 31st) and left-arm spinner Nauman Ali (up to 12 places to 54th) have also advanced in the list for bowlers while left-handed batsman Fawad Alam continues his fine run, moving up 31 places to a career-best 47th position after scoring 140, his fourth century in 10 Test matches. Abid Ali is up six places to 78th position. For Zimbabwe, Regis Chakabva has gained two slots to reach 97th position while fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani has progressed 26 slots to reach 55th position with figures of four for 73.

After a long suffering wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, the massive number of daily cases of deaths and constant struggle for oxygen, hospital beds and medicines are affecting everybody’s life. The Sports events have resumed across the world and exciting time ahead with Tokyo Olympics is set to begin on July 23rd, 2021.

Market in Olympic Games in the middle of a pandemic

International Olympic Committee and Tokyo Olympic organizers are to unveil a new plan of campaign. However, the sports industry will never be the same again.  The Olympic Games are most effective and lucrative international marketing platforms in the world reaching billions of people over 200 nations and territories throughout the world.

Construction of all latest and new permanent venues for deferred Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic 2021 has been completed last year. Only Japan says that it will go ahead with preparations for the Tokyo games as planned. But an unexpected dangerous googly in this case of the COVID virus can derail its usual work without wasting time or resources.

Resistance to Olympics in Tokyo, Japan is still running high with 70 to 80 percent in expressing strong disapproval of Olympics mega-events in recent polls. Now more tests, no quarantine is in updated rules.

Modern Olympics was canceled four times. The Cancellation of the Olympics will cost Japan more than $ 12.6 billion. A year`s postponement now means the addition of billions to keep facilities for sports in specified shapes till the games commence.

A serious challenge is to ensure that much-awaited games do not become international super spreader events. Tokyo can not host guests and crazy spectators as planned earlier. The run risk of sports fans catching physical and mental health as a casualty of coronavirus pandemic and event being suspended midway to attacks. Olympics is large in scale and intensity of strong desire of participation by top athletes, officials, crazy spectators and journalists from all over the world is very high.

(The Writer is a former Associate Professor and consultant of Limca Book of Records. Views are his personal) 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday informed the Delhi High Court that the decision has been taken to suspend the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) indefinitely amid the rising COVID-19 cases.The submission came on Wednesday during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which sought enquiry as to why the IPL was being prioritised over public health. After taking notes of the submission made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta representing the BCCI, the bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh adjourned the matter for May 19, as none from the petitioner’s side appeared in the matter. The plea was filed by advocate Karan Singh Thukral and social activist Inder Mohan Singh. Thukral is a practicing advocate and presently suffering from COVID-19 and has been distressed to see the state of affairs in the city and the complete failure of the medical system.

In the plea filed through advocates HS Thukral and Kapil Kumar, petitioners urged to issue direction to the respondents to hold an enquiry as to why the IPL was being prioritised over public health. It had also sought to stop the matches to an immediate effect. “Issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction directing the Respondent(s) to held an enquiry as to why the IPL is being prioritized over the public health,” the plea said. The petitioners requested the high court to put a stay over the conduct of upcoming IPL matches in Delhi. “Although point no 10 of Delhi government notification dated April 19 clearly states that lockdown is exceptional to any Stadium organising national and international level matches with no in attendance spectators, there is an urgent need to prioritise the public health over these matches, “ they said. The petitioners added that it is a mockery of the emotions of those common people who are constantly struggling for beds and space for cremating their loved ones. They said that the government has hurt the sentiments of the citizens by prioritising entertainment over the lives of innocents showcasing a poor play of authority and responsibility.

The petitioner said that the state through its careless acts has shown itself as an insensitive and capitalist figure losing every inch of public confidence over it. The government has very conveniently turned a blind eye on the whole situation showcasing a completely reckless and insensitive approach towards dealing with the pandemic, it added. IPL 2021 was suspended on Tuesday following several positive Covid-19 cases across franchises. In a statement, the IPL said the decision was “unanimously” taken by the tournament’s Governing Council and the BCCI. “The BCCI does not want to compromise on the safety of the players, support staff and the other participants involved in organising the IPL,” the statement said. “This decision was taken keeping the safety, health and wellbeing of all the stakeholders in mind.” “These are difficult times, especially in India, and while we have tried to bring in some positivity and cheer, however, it is imperative that the tournament is now suspended and everyone goes back to their families and loved ones in these trying times,” it added. The statement also said the BCCI would do “do everything in its powers to arrange for the secure and safe passage of all the participants in IPL 2021”.

PUNE: The Indian Premier League Governing Council (IPL GC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday, in an emergency meeting unanimously decided to postpone IPL 2021 season, with immediate effect.

The BCCI does not want to compromise on the safety of the players, support staff, and the other participants involved in organising the IPL. This decision was taken keeping the safety, health, and well-being of all the stakeholders in mind. “These are difficult times, especially in India and while we have tried to bring in some positivity and cheer, however, it is imperative that the tournament is now suspended and everyone goes back to their families and loved ones in these trying times,” the BCCI said in an official statement. The BCCI also said that it will do everything in its powers to arrange for the secure and safe passage of all the participants in IPL 2021.

The BCCI also thanked all the healthcare workers, state associations, players, support staff, franchises, sponsors, partners, and all the service providers who have tried their best to organise IPL 2021 even in these extremely difficult times.

Earlier, BCCI’s vice-president Rajeev Shukla had confirmed the development to ANI. “IPL has been suspended, we will see whether we can reschedule it, it is not cancelled. It is just suspended for now,” he said.

However, is keen to tap the September window before the T20 World Cup to finish the league. Speaking to ANI, a senior BCCI official in the know of developments said that if the COVID-19 situation is under control in September, the 14th edition of the league can be completed.

“Why not? If the foreign players are available and the COVID-19 situation is in control, we can definitely look at that window before the T20 WC. It can in fact act as a good preparation ground for the showpiece event,” the official said

The T20 World Cup is set to be played in India in October and November.

Asked about the situation with regards to the return of the foreign players who were part of the league, the official said: “As mentioned by BCCI earlier as well, it shall be ensured that all the players reach home safely. Planning is on and a clear picture will be out by tomorrow on their travel routes.”

Earlier in the day, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah said that keeping an eye on the current COVID-19 situation, the BCCI and IPL Governing Council decided to postpone the league.

“The BCCI and the IPL GC have unanimously decided to postpone the 2021 season till further notice. We don’t wish to compromise the safety of the players, the people involved, the employees, the groundsmen, the match officials, every single person involved,” he told ANI.

SunRisers Hyderabad wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha tested positive on Tuesday morning after there were COVID-19 cases in two franchises on Monday. While two of the members of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) contingent tested positive, two Kolkata Knight Riders players tested positive — Varun Chakaravarthy and Sandeep Warrier — forcing the BCCI to postpone the KKR-RCB game in Ahmedabad.

With Saha testing positive, the game on Tuesday evening between SRH and defending champions Mumbai Indians also needed to be postponed.

ROME: Serie A side AS Roma on Tuesday announced Jose Mourinho as the club’s new head coach ahead of the 2021-22 season.

“Official. The club are delighted to announce an agreement has been reached with Jose Mourinho for him to become our new head coach ahead of the 2021-22 season,” AS Roma tweeted. Earlier in the day, the Italian club confirmed coach Paulo Fonseca will leave the club at the end of the season.

“On behalf of everyone at AS Roma, we would like to thank Paulo Fonseca for his hard work and leadership over the past two years,” said club chairman Dan Friedkin in an official statement.

“Paulo guided the team through many challenges, including the Covid pandemic and a change of ownership, and did so with selfless integrity and great character,” he added.

Fonseca signed a two-year contract with the Giallorossi in the summer of 2019, joining from Shakhtar Donetsk – the Ukrainian club where he won the league and cup double in all three seasons with them.

Last month, English club Tottenham Hotspur had sacked Mourinho.

“The club can today announce that Jose Mourinho and his coaching staff Joao Sacramento, Nuno Santos, Carlos Lalin, and Giovanni Cerra have been relieved of their duties,” Tottenham had said in an official statement.

Mourinho had been in charge at Tottenham since November 2019. He had replaced Mauricio Pochettino and his deal was to end at the beginning of the 2023 season.