DUBAI: Franchises under whose watch the bio-bubble in the ongoing Indian Premier League is breached will have to pay a heavy price. And if found to be at fault for a third time, will forfeit 2 precious points (equivalent to one win) in the league standings tally.
These rules have been detailed in a notification sent to all IPL teams by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which has laid down strict rules for players, team management, franchise and IPL officials for the tournament in a 16-page Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) document released in early August.
If a franchise allows “any person into the bubble to interact with players/support staff”, it will have to pay a fine of Rs 1 core (Rs 10 million) at the first offence, a point will be deducted at the second offence and two points (equivalent to one win) for the third violation, reports PTI, while quoting an extract from the SOP document.
In a scenario where a team has less than 12 players available, the BCCI will try to reschedule or else the match would be deemed lost.
For players, the first offence of the bio-bubble will result in a 6-day re-quarantine without pay, while the second offence will lead to a one-match suspension after the completion of the 6-day re-quarantine. The third and final breach will result in suspension from the entire tournament and removal from the bio-bubble. Franchises also won’t be allowed a replacement if a player breaches the bio-bubble thrice.
In that regard, Chennai Super Kings player KM Asif became the first player found to have breached the bio-bubble and had to undergo a six-day quarantine. The incident took place after Asif misplaced his room key and, without informing anyone, went to the hotel reception to get a replacement. As per guidelines, the reception doesn’t come under the ‘designated area’ and Asif, a medium pacer from Kerala, was found to be outside his bubble.
“It was an unintentional mistake but rules had to be followed. He underwent six days of quarantine and has now resumed practice with the team,” a source in the IPL informed.
