As India gears up for the nearly two month long Indian Premier League, the Delhi government has said that no IPL matches will be held in the city amid the outbreak of COVID-19.
Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia today announced that the government is banning all sporting activities, including IPL matches, and events like conferences until further notice "for the purpose of prevention and control of the outbreak of the epidemic disease, COVID-19".
The IPL is scheduled to begin on March 29 with the first match in Delhi between Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab on March 30.
"Thousands of people will come for these events, from all over. There is no way to know who is coming, where they are coming from and no way to control their arrival. It takes only one person to spread this disease, to be a carrier," Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said this morning.
"For this reason, the government has decided to ban these events. Right now, social distancing is the best solution. We have asked all District Magistrates and Sub-District Magistrates to follow all orders from the Health Department," he added.
The IPL Governing Council is scheduled to meet on March 14 to discuss how to proceed with the tournament.
