Sri Lanka postpones new premier league over quarantine rules

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s cricket board has announced to postpone the new premier league tournament by three months as health officials insisted d on two-week quarantine for foreign players.

Sri Lanka’s cricket board said, “We asked for a three-day quarantine period, but the health authorities insisted on 14 days.” It further said under those restrictions, “It is not feasible to hold the tournament this month.”

Earlier, Sri Lanka Cricket had announced that it hoped to resume top-level cricket with the Lanka Premier League (LPL) from August 28 with the participation of 70 international players.

In a statement, the cricket board said the tournament will be postponed to November, but did not give a schedule for the matches.

The board planned 23 matches from 28 August to September 20. The matches were to be played at four international venues on the island. Sri Lanka Cricket had not named any of the foreign stars who it said had agreed to play in the LPL.

The officials declared mandatory for all those entering the island are required to quarantine for two weeks at state-managed centers followed by another two weeks of self-quarantine.

The government had announced the reopening of the country’s international airports to foreign tourists from August 1, however, it was since indefinitely postponed amid fears of a second wave of infections.

Sri Lanka has registered over 2,875 infections and 11 deaths, according to official figures. However, health officials have said the actual infections could be higher and called for increased testing.