India suspends IPL cricket league for a week as clashes with Pakistan escalate
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Kolkata Knight Riders' Andre Russell in action. The suspension would take place “with immediate effect for one week.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW DELHI – India’s cricket board said it had suspended the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament on May 9 as fighting escalated with neighbouring Pakistan, halting play in the sport’s richest tournament two weeks before the end of the season.
Board members were particularly concerned about the safety of players and whether it was appropriate for such events to take place during the conflict, a source with direct knowledge of the decision told Reuters.
“The idea is very clear – it is not appropriate at this time to continue IPL,” said the source, who asked not to be named.
The suspension would take place “with immediate effect for one week”, the IPL wrote in a social media post, confirming an earlier Reuters story.
“The decision was taken by the IPL governing council after due consultation with all key stakeholders following the representations from most of the franchisees,” the IPL said.
The suspension will come as a setback for a Reliance-Disney joint venture which has broadcast rights for the matches, and also scores of companies that have committed millions of dollars for advertising.
The suspension means the Indian cricket board and team franchisees will lose some revenues which are linked to match days, the source said.
India and Pakistan have been locked in conflict since May 7, when India targeted multiple locations in Pakistan, saying they were “terrorist infrastructure”, following a deadly attack in Indian Kashmir on April 22.
New Delhi named two Pakistani nationals as suspects and accused Islamabad of being involved in the attack, a charge Pakistan denied and sought an independent probe.
India’s army said Pakistan’s armed forces carried out “multiple attacks” using drones and other munitions across the entire western border on May 8 and May 9, a claim Pakistan rejected.
The current tournament began on March 22, with matches spread over 13 venues around the country, and the final was scheduled for May 25 in Kolkata.
An IPL match on May 8 was abandoned midway after fighting broke out in India’s border regions. The cricket board attributed that disruption to a power failure at the stadium in the hill city of Dharamsala.
After striking the US$8.5 billion (S$11.04 billion) media merger with Walt Disney in 2024, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance was targeting small businesses and promoting unconventional neuroscience studies to boost its revenues from the IPL.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Super League postponed its remaining matches in the wake of the ongoing conflict.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had initially decided to move the last eight PSL games to the United Arab Emirates. However, later on May 9, the PCB said it had postponed the matches on the advice of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, adding that cricket “must take a respectful pause” amid the conflict.
Former champions Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi were due to play at Rawalpindi stadium on May 8 but the match was postponed after a drone fell close to the stadium. REUTERS, AFP
