Bangladesh Premier League called off amid COVID-19 crisis

The seventh edition of the competition has already been pushed back and will now be delayed until next year

• Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka postponed
• 2020 Asia Cup cancelled

The Bangladesh Premier League will not take place in 2020-21 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The seventh edition of the franchise competition was due to kick-off in December.

But the seven-team event will now not return until next year at the earliest.

Central to the decision are the problems with foreign nationals entering the country.

Currently, overseas travellers must require a medical certificate saying they have tested negative for COVID-19 in the past 72 hours.

If travelling from a country with coronavirus outbreak then they must also self-isolate for 14 days from arrival.

There have been more than 378,000 cases of the virus in Bangladesh, with in excess of 5,500 deaths.

"BPL is not happening this year," said Bangladesh Cricket Board president Naxmul Hasan, according to Cricbuzz. "Let's see it in next year. We do not want to miss any game but everything will depend on the situation and circumstances.

"Because whenever there is talk of BPL, there must be foreign cricketers. At the same time, there is the matter of production. Now if we can do those in Bangladesh then we have no objection. 

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"But it is a little bigger arrangement because of the number of players there and the team management are much higher. I don't know if we are able to handle that or not."

While the Indian Premier League has successfully been moved to the United Arab Emirates, it is not financially viable for the BPL to be staged overseas or for a bio-secure bubble to be formed in Bangladesh.

"I don't think it will be easy (organise the tournament outside)," added Nazmul. "I tell you when we go to run in Bangladesh (BPL), except for one or two franchises, the rest of us have a hard time to play the tournament.

"I heard it today the bio-security belt has to be created outside say in the UK and even in Dubai for the IPL as well and I don't think it is possible for anyone. It is almost impossible for us to spend so much money."

The news comes after Bangladesh's return to international competition was further delayed after their Test tour of Sri Lanka was cancelled following a disagreement over quarantine rules.

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