A political row has erupted over the choice to shift the venue of final match of the Indian Premier League 2025, in addition to the second qualifier, from Kolkata to Ahmedebad. West Bengal Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare Aroop Biswas alleged on Thursday that politics was behind the cricketing move.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had introduced that the second qualifier and the IPL final, scheduled to happen on June 1 and three respectively, will likely be held on the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad as a substitute of at Kolkata’s Eden Garden Stadium.
“The IPL play-offs and final have been moved from Eden Gardens due to political reasons. You are doing politics against Mamata Banerjee, but why are the cricket lovers of Bengal being deprived,” the State Minister requested. “It is the IPL’s rule that last year’s champions’ home ground will host the final,” he identified, including that the West Bengal authorities is protesting the shifting of the matches.
‘No law and order issues’
Mr. Biswas refuted claims of legislation and order issues or opposed climate circumstances as justifiable causes for the shift. “Seven IPL matches have been held at Eden. No untoward incident has taken place. An average of 60,000 to 65,000 spectators have watched each match. So there is no question of law and order problems,” the Minister mentioned. He was addressing a press convention together with Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma, who added that neither most people nor organisers had raised any considerations about legislation and order.
West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar had mentioned that IPL matches have been moved out of Kolkata due to “law and order issues”.
Mr. Biswas additionally questioned the weather-related justification cited by the BCCI, noting that climate forecasts for Kolkata for June 1 to 4 will solely be out there after May 26, in accordance to the India Meteorological Department.
“No forecast has been issued for the first week of June in 2025 in the public domain. Since when did the BCCI become a weather expert?” the Minister requested. He additionally cited a letter from the top of the Regional Meteorological Centre at Alipore in Kolkata on the climate forecast.
Published – May 22, 2025 09:44 pm IST
