Fact Check: IPL 2024 will be staged only in India
Lok Sabha elections in India are scheduled from April 19 to June 1, 2024.
IPL matches
Lok Sabha elections in India are scheduled from April 19 to June 1, 2024. The 44-day-long electoral process is the second longest in independent India’s history. The process will conclude with the counting of votes on June 4, 2024.
Meanwhile, Indian Premier League 2024 is starting on March 22, 2024, with the match between the defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore to be played in Chennai. The BCCI has released the schedule of only the first 21 matches till April 7, 2024, on the account of Lok Sabha elections. With this, speculation about the rest of the matches has started on social media. Some Twitter users have shared posts claiming that BCCI has decided to shift the rest of the matches to UAE considering the election schedule.
The claim is shared as “IPL is set to be shifted to the UAE due to elections, so Dhoni will be playing in IPL 2025 as well, as he said his last match will be in Chepauk.”
Fact Check:
The claim is False. The BCCI has clarified that the entire tournament will be held in India.
When searched using keywords, we found several news reports published on various media platforms.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, BCCI secretary Jay Shah quashed all the rumors and confirmed that the entire season of IPL 2024 will be played in India. Speaking to Cricbuzz hours after the announcement of the schedule for the general elections, Shah dismissed the speculation of staging the second half of IPL 2024 abroad. He said: "No, it won't be moved overseas."
A report published on the Cricbuzz website states that The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that the Indian Premier League (IPL) will not be staged overseas. The clarification comes after some reports have suggested a possible shift to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the General Elections in India.
Deccan Herald also reported that IPL chairman Arun Dhumal refuted the claims of the shift of IPL to UAE. Dhumal told PTI that the IPL is not being shifted anywhere and the remaining schedule will be announced very soon.
Hence, the claim that the second half of the IPL is shifting to UAE due to upcoming general elections is False. The IPL matches will be taking place in India only.