IPL players and staff to be tested five times before tournament
Players and support staff will have to test negative for Covid-19 at least five times before they start training in the UAE to participate in the IPL.
Players and staff participating in the IPL competition scheduled to start on 19 September in the UAE will have to return negative Covid-19 tests at least five times before they are allowed to start training and will be later tested every five days during the competition, according to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
A BCCI official revealed that players and staff will only be cleared to fly to the UAE after they undergo two Covid-19 RT-PCR tests within a span of 24 hours and the results come back negative. If any individual tests positive for the virus, they will have to go into a 14-day self-quarantine before undergoing two more Covid-19 RT-PCR tests.
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3 more tests in UAE
Following arrival in the UAE players and staff will be required to return three negative test results during a week-long quarantine in order to be able to start training. The BCCI official said there might be minor changes to this protocol based on feedback from the participating teams. However, there won't be any kind of compromise regarding the safety of players and support staff.
Players and support staff won't be allowed to meet each other for the first week in the UAE until they return three negative results. After the results are returned they will be entitled to enter the tournament "bio-bubble" and start training.
The same protocol will apply to overseas players who fly directly to India; they will have to test negative twice before joining their teams in the UAE.