By Fakir Hassen,IANS,
Johannesburg : The Indian Premier League (IPL) will cover the difference in costs that the owners of the clubs would incur for playing the series in South Africa instead of India, Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner of the IPL, said here.
The costs of hosting the IPL 2009 series in South Africa will be much higher than what it would have been if it was played in India as originally planned.
“To actually factor in what the cost is going to be vis-a-vis playing the games in South Africa and in India is a very difficult question at the moment,” Modi said at a press conference here late Tuesday.
“I arrived this morning and we took the decision to go forward, irrespective of the cost. We know the costs are going to be much, much higher of doing them in South Africa, but we are happy to go forward and incur those costs because the game of cricket is more important than anything else for us,” he added.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to shift the Twenty20 tournament outside the country after state governments failed to assure security for the event that clashed with general elections.