As a mark of respect to the victims of the Pulwama terror attack, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) on Friday said that there will be no opening ceremony for the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year.
The CoA, which was constituted by the Supreme Court to run Indian cricket, decided to allocate the money set aside for the opening ceremony to the families of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel killed in the terror attack last week.
The opening ceremonies of the cash-rich T20 league are a heady mix of glitz and glamour with performances by Bollywood stars being the highlight. However, as a mark of respect to the slain CRPF men, it has been decided to scrap the ceremony for the event's 12th edition beginning March 23.
Advertisement
"We will not have any inaugural function for the IPL and the money budgeted for that goes to the martyrs' families," said Committee of Administrators chairman Vinod Rai.
The CoA took the call at a meeting here on Friday.
The Pulwama attack took place last week and its reverberations are being felt in the sporting arena as well. There has been a call to snap sporting ties with Pakistan.
The Rai-led CoA decided against taking any stand on the World Cup clash against Pakistan but said it would individually urge ICC members to "sever ties with any nation that is a terrorist hub".
Advertisement
Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL opener on March 23.
(PTI)
