BCCI issues Covid-19 SOPs for the 14th edition of IPL

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday issued a document detailing the Covid-19 standard operating procedure guidelines for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season. Notably, The board has allowed a bubble-to-bubble transfer of players who are part of ongoing India vs England series.

"Players coming directly from the Bubble created for India vs. England series may be permitted to join the franchise squad without serving the mandatory quarantine period, provided they satisfy the following criteria," BCCI stated in a note.

"After the conclusion of the India vs. England series, the players are moved directly to the franchise team hotel either in the team bus or on a chartered flight. If chartered flights are used then all protocols for crew members mentioned in Appendix 7 must be followed. If the travel arrangements are to the satisfaction of the BCCI Chief



Medical Officer then such players will directly enter the franchise team Bubble without the need to serve a quarantine period or undergo an RT-PCR test," BCCI statement added.

The BCCI has also issued entry guidelines to players. The passengers arriving from the UK, Middle East, South Africa, Brazil and Europe will be required to undergo 7-day quarantine at their own cost. Those entering Chennai will be required to serve an e-pass issued by the Tamil Nadu government.

"There are 12 Bio-Secure Bubbles one for each team’s players, support staff & families (8), one for broadcast crew and television commentators at each venue (2), one for the Match Officials and the Match Management Team at each venue (2)," BCCI statement confirmed. Also, the BCCI officials will not be a part of the bio-bubble and hence will not be allowed to interact with the players or franchise officials who are in the bubble.