IPL SOP released: No COVID-19 tests, vaccination for players as of now

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday released Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL). The cricketers, who are part of the ongoing India versus England series, as well as the IPL, will not have to undergo mandatory seven-day quarantine, reported PTI.’

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The BCCI has made it clear that no individual associated with the IPL will be vaccinated as of now as the central government has put a system in place that is currently being adhered to.

According to PTI, the SOP states, “Players who are coming from bubble created for India vs England series may directly join the franchise squad without serving mandatory quarantine period provided.”

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It adds that after the conclusion of the series, players can directly take a bus or chartered flight to move to the team hotel. They don’t need to serve a hard quarantine period or undergo RT PCR tests.

Similarly, for all franchisees, who are having prior camps in bio-secure bubbles, if their travel arrangements are satisfactory they will be entitled to bubble-to-bubble transfers.

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However, if the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is not satisfied, then all those players need to undergo seven days of hard quarantine and return with three negative tests.

The SOP stated that at this point, the government has not specified anything on the vaccination of elite athletes.

“In India, the first group to get vaccinated is healthcare and frontline workers. The second group is persons above 60 years of age as of January 1, 2022, and person between 45 to 59 years with comorbid conditions. The government is yet to announce the schedule of vaccination of other groups of people including elite athletes.”