The 2020 CPL will take place in Trinidad & Tobago between August 18 and September 10, after the organisers got the final nod from the local government. A total of 33 matches including two semifinals and a final will be played behind closer doors across two stadiums.
As per the agreement between the CPL and the T&T government, all the participants – squads and team management of the six franchises, the organisers and the rest of the crews – will need to self-isolate for two weeks before they board their flights, and for two weeks upon arrival in T&T. All the participants will be tested for Covid-19 upon arrival followed by two more tests – seven days and 14 days after their arrival.
All six teams will stay in the same hotel in Trinidad. Even within that bio-secure bubble, it is understood that each team will be broken up into mini clusters. In case anyone from one of the clusters tests positive before or during the tournament, that cluster will have to self-isolate. No other guests will be allowed to stay at the hotel hosting the teams.
“We will continue to monitor the situation concerning COVID-19 and to be on top of it, as it is a rolling situation and requires different rules and regulations as time goes on,” T&T minister of sport and youth affairs Shamfa Cudjoe said in a news conference. “Once we bring off this tournament successfully and I am sure we will, then it will be a lesson for us in hosting other games.”
The CPL is set to be the first time people from outside of T&T are allowed into the country since the closure of its borders in late March. The Caribbean has been relatively unaffected during the Covid-19 pandemic, with T&T only recording 133 positive tests and eight deaths until July 9, according to data released by its health ministry. As a precaution, the T&T government has closed borders even to other countries in the Caribbean and its own citizens who are overseas.
Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor at ESPNcricinfo
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