Only fully vaccinated spectators will be permitted to enter the stadiums

The Maharashtra government has approved full-vaccinated spectators at 25% of stadium capacity for IPL 2022, which is set to be held in Mumbai and Pune from March 26.

In an official statement issued on Wednesday, the state government said considering that the Covid-19 cases have been on the decline, the crowd limit has been capped at 25% and only fully vaccinated spectators will be permitted to enter the stadiums.

This, after the Maharashtra government conducted a meeting with BCCI and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for the smooth conduct of the IPL, which is now a ten-team tournament.

Ministers of the state government – Aaditya Thackeray and Eknath Shinde – along with MCA chief Vijay Patil and apex council members Ajinkya Naik and Abhay Hadap, treasurer Jagdish Achrekar, were present at the meeting.

Post the meeting, in a series of tweets, Aaditya Thackeray said, “To ensure the smooth flow of the @IPL, Minister @mieknathshinde ji and I conducted a joint meeting of IPL, @BCCI with officers of Police and Municipal Corporations of Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai.” He also said that the state’s deputy Chief Minister would soon conduct a similar meeting for Pune, the other venue for IPL.

“For Pune, the meeting will be held soon, proposed to be chaired by DCM sir to ensure that the tournament is successfully carried out in all our city venues,” said Aaditya, who is the son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

It is understood that the MCA ground in suburban Bandra Kurla Complex, MCA ground in Thane, the Dr DY Patil University ground and a football pitch along with the CCI (Cricket Club of India) and the Reliance Corporate Park ground in Ghansoli have been identified by the authorities as practice venues for the tournament.

Players are likely to start coming into the city from March 8. It is also understood that all the participants will have to undergo RT-PCR tests 48 hours prior to their arrival in Mumbai.

Players will also have to undergo three-five days of quarantine before entering their respective bubbles.

In isolation, the participants will undergo in-room RT-PCR testing three times – first on day one, second on day three and the final one on day five.

In case of a three-day quarantine, the participants will get tested every day and if all the three results are negative, they will be permitted to exit quarantine and commence team activities.

It is also understood that all the participants/personnel associated with the conduct of IPL (bubble/non-bubble) will undergo RT-PCR testing every three to five days during the entire length of the tournament.

While ten hotels have been identified in Mumbai, two hotels have been zeroed in for Pune. It is also learnt that the teams would be reaching the venues for practice or the match venues through a special “green corridor” and will be allowed to use the Eastern Freeway to go to Navi Mumbai or Thane from south Mumbai.