Home Ministry tells BCCI it can't spare forces for IPL

The fate of the second edition of the Indian Premier League hung in balance with the Home Ministry today bluntly telling the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that it would not be able to spare central forces for the Twenty20 tournament.

Asking the organisers of the high-profile tournament to hold serious consultations with concerned state governments, the Home Ministry expressed its "concerns and limitations" in sparing para-military forces for the cricket extravaganza because of the Lok Sabha elections.

SEE VIDEO: IPL schedule to be revsed

This was conveyed when a three-member BCCI delegation met Special Secretary (Internal Security) Raman Srivastava to discuss the IPL matches issues, a Home Ministry spokesman said.

During the 90-minute meeting, the delegation, led by BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan, was asked to work out a new schedule in consultation with the states where the IPL matches are to be played, the spokesman said.

"Once the schedule is received, the Ministry will look at it in consultation with the state governments," he said.

The Ministry had on March 13 had rejected the revised schedule of the IPL organisers and said it "may not be feasible to play matches as per the submitted schedule".

"It is not possible to exempt any state from its promise to release state police personnel for election duties because these have been taken into account in arriving at the overall availability of security personnel," the Ministry had said while rejecting the revised schedule.