Thaindian News

London, Feb 23 (IANS) Top international cricketers are negotiating a foolproof security if they have to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) next month and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi insists that all concerns will be adressed.
Modi insisted that security won’t be a problem and that the tournament will not be shifted out of India like it was last year.

“We are going to have the tournament in India. I can’t see any reason why we should move it at this point in time,” Modi was quoted as saying in The Times, London. “The media is reacting to every fringe group saying security is a problem.”

The Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA), which represents Australian, South African, New Zealand and English players commissioned a report from security expert Reg Dickason after a Pakistan-based militant group warned players not to attend the Hockey World Cup, the IPL and the Commonwealth Games in India.

The FICA will present the IPL with a list of demands regarding security before advising its members whether they should attend the tournament, which runs from March 12 to April 25.

Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, said the participation of Shane Warne, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden among others was now in doubt after a meeting between players and managers in Sydney.

“I think it is very difficult to say at the moment,” Marsh said when asked if the players would go to India.

“There are some issues that have been raised. If the IPL can satisfy those issues, then potentially the players will be in a position to go,” Marsh said. “We have got about 25 players involved so it would be a lesser tournament.”

Marsh said the players wouldn’t be blindly lured by the riches of the IPL. “All the money in the world is not going to help you if you are not around to spend it,” he said.

Marsh also conceded that Dickason’s security report had exposed serious shortcomings in the IPL’s plans. “The independent report has identified some serious concerns with aspects of the current security process,” he said. “Specifically these concerns relate to the reported direct threat against the event and the status and implementation of the IPL’s security plan.

“The process from here is for all players associated to meet with their player groups and for all of us to feed back the concerns raised from these meetings to the IPL. This will be coordinated through our peak body the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA). From here we will await a response from the IPL.”