IPL 2021: CSK awaits landing approval from UAE govt, BCCI working on clearance

NEW DELHI: While Chennai Super Kings is looking to land in Dubai on Friday, the franchise is yet to receive the landing approval from the UAE authorities. But CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan is confident they will get the same by Wednesday as the BCCI is looking into the same.

Speaking to ANI, the CSK CEO said the team is ready and the crew which will fly the team to Dubai is already in quarantine - as per the SOP provided by the BCCI to the franchises. He said the team is still confident it will get the landing approval on Wednesday and land in Dubai on Friday.

"We need approval from the UAE government to land there and that is something we are waiting for. Our crew is already in quarantine as per the SOP and everyone is ready. The BCCI is looking to get us the approval and we are hoping to get the green signal by tomorrow," he said.

Coming to the tournament, the BCCI has decided to do away with contact tracing devices for the UAE leg, starting on September 19. The Indian board has decided that Bubble Integrity Officers will do the necessary contact tracing if any player tests positive for COVID-19 in UAE.

Sources in the know of developments said it was a call taken considering how constantly feeding information into the Bluetooth devices can get cumbersome at times. Also, there were some cases of the device not functioning properly during the India leg of the league earlier this year.

"The BCCI has decided to do away with the idea of wearing contact tracing bands as not only is it sometimes difficult to feed information for sportspersons during the course of a tournament, but also, we had a few instances earlier this year when the devices couldn't catch the movement of the players and the fact that they had left a certain location wasn't updated and players and support staff realised this much later."As a result, it has been decided that the Bubble Integrity Officers present with the teams will keep a track of the movements and act accordingly if there is a case that comes up during the course of the tournament. There will be 4 integrity officers with each team and will work in shifts to help with this," the source told ANI.

The board has come up with a 46-page health advisory that lays down all the pointers that everyone associated with the IPL needs to follow in order to ensure the smooth functioning of the league.