DHAKA, March 9, 2020 (BSS)-The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) restricted the sale of tickets for the first T20 International match against Zimbabwe in the wake of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) threat.
The decision came in a bid to discourage public gathering as the BCB
allowed one ticket for just one person. The target is to keep the crowd one-
fifth of the capacity at the 25,000-seater Sher0e Bangla National Cricket
Stadium.
“The decision has been taken in a bid to discourage the public gathering,”
BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said here on Monday.
“It’s a precautionary measurement in the wake of the Coronavirus threat.
We don’t want the people to take risk. We urge all the fans to watch the game
in TV.”
The announcement had come soon after the Bangladesh government’s decision
on Sunday evening to postpone a grand rally to commemorate the birth
centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,
which was scheduled for March 17.
This is however the first decision of BCB in the wake of Coronavirus
threat. The board even can restrict the sale of tickets for second and final
T20 on Wednesday.
But the BCB has two other programmes -a concert on March 18, and two T20Is
between Asia XI and World XI in Dhaka, on March 20 and 21-to mark the birth
centenary of the Bangabandhu.
The decision in this regard is yet to be taken. On Sunday, the BCB
president Nazmul Hassan Papon said the board will go on with the plan unless
the government gives any suggestion.
There have been various precautionary steps taken by various cricket
boards following the worldwide alarm around the spread of coronavirus.
Cricket South Africa has decided to go ahead with the senior men’s tour of
India, starting later this week, after conducting risk assessment, but the
Everest Premier League, a T20 competition in Nepal, has been postponed
indefinitely after a government directive to avoid mass gatherings.
The Pakistan Super League, however, is going ahead despite a major scare
in Karachi.
There are wide-range repercussions in the rest of the sporting world too,
with fears that this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo might be affected.