Reports | IPL franchises ready to quarantine foreign players for 14 days

The IPL franchises are reportedly ready to quarantine their foreign players for a period of 14 days amidst ongoing coronavirus outbreak, with the government authorities imposing a travel ban for residents from specific countries till March 31. The government, on Monday, issued an advisory expanding compulsory quarantine for a minimum period of 14 days for passengers coming from/transiting through UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait.

It further prohibited travel of passengers from member countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey and United Kingdom to India with effect from March 18.

"Yes, the fresh advisory calls for 14-day quarantine for travel from some countries and if the stance remains the same post March 31, that shouldn't be an issue. If we get a clearance from the government and visas are issued, then quarantining the players shouldn't be a big deal. In such a scenario, we can fly them into the country in the first week of April and follow the process of 14-day quarantine. But first, the foreign players need to be given the visa and that is why we need to wait till March 31 to see what the government decides going forward,” said a franchise owner, as reported by Sportstar.

The source confirmed that meetings will happen every week while there was no decision made with regards to the fate of the tournament. The source further admitted that foreign players might need a five-day break before they can start playing matches, in order to get acclimatized.

"No decision was made and to be honest, the idea wasn't to take a call. It was aimed more towards understanding the general scenario and how the coronavirus outbreak is impacting the world. It was more about taking stock of the situation. But, one thing that we did discuss was that foreign players will need a 5-day window to acclimatise once they arrive in India.

"At present, we need to keep our fingers crossed and hope that the situation improves and the health and sports departments give the necessary go-ahead to organise the tournament with foreign players," the official added.