The Indian Government has
given its formal go-ahead for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier
League (IPL) to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), IPL Chairman Brijesh
Patel confirmed on Monday.

The government had
earlier given an “in principle” approval to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to shift the
cash-rich league abroad owing to the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country.

“Yes, we have
received all the written approvals,” Patel told PTI when asked whether the
permission has come in writing from both the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

When an Indian sports
body shifts a domestic tournament abroad, it requires clearance from Home,
External and sports ministries respectively.

The IPL was initially
scheduled for March 29, with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly previously aiming to conduct
the tournament in India, although it had to be postponed owing to the coronavirus
pandemic.

It will now be held in the UAE from September 19 to November 10 in
three cities — Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

“Once we had the
verbal okay from the government, we had intimated the Emirates Cricket Board.
Now we have the papers also, so franchises can be intimated that everything is
in order,” a veteran BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Most teams will depart for the UAE on August 20 after two mandatory RT-PCR (COVID-19 tests)
conducted within 24 hours from their departure base.

The Chennai Super
Kings players and staff, who are leaving on August 22, will have a small camp
at the Chepauk on the insistence of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Earlier, BCCI
confirmed that the title sponsorship deal with Vivo was mutually agreed to be
put on hold for IPL’s 2020 edition. The two parties are reportedly working on a
new three-year deal starting 2021.

The move comes amid a
wave of anti-China sentiment in the country following clashes between the
Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army at the Line of Actual
Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh in June.

Vivo had bagged the
title sponsorship rights in a five-year deal from 2018 to 2022 for a reported
sum of Rs 2190 crore, just shy of Rs 440 crore a year.