The Governing Council of the Indian Premier League on Sunday turned down the Mumbai Cricket Association's appeal to reassign the final match of the T20 tournament to Wankhede stadium, the home ground of last year's champion Mumbai Indians.
The decision came even as the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) accepted all the conditions set by IPL Chairman Ranjib Biswal, including the one that sought entry for all franchise owners and officials.
Acceptance of this condition effectively lifted for a day the five-year ban imposed on the entry of Bollywood star and Kolkata Knight Riders' owner Shah Rukh Khan to Wankhede stadium.
Sanjay Patel, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said on Sunday that the final will be played as scheduled in Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 1.
"All the letters sent by MCA were discussed but IPL governing council members decided that they don't want to change the venue. Mumbai is already getting two matches of the final four," Patel said. "They (MCA) have not got the permission to burst crackers and use a public response system after 10 pm as yet and we do not have more time." Patel said all permissions required for hosting the final in Bangalore are in place.
The MCA was surprised last week when the IPL governing council decided to shift the final from Mumbai to Bangalore without giving a specific reason.
"Considering that 20 matches of the ongoing Pepsi IPL season were played overseas, the GC took a decision to try and take the playoffs to as many different stadia as possible," it had said in a statement. "Several venues had expressed their interest in hosting the playoffs."
This prompted MCA President Sharad Pawar to send letters to the Governing Council and to other BCCI members, seeking to know the reason for shifting the match venue. Biswal then wrote a letter to MCA, listing 14 conditions that it must accept for the governing council to reconsider its decision.
 |
                                                                                           |
 |