IPL 2020: Umpires, referees clear Covid-19 tests

New Delhi - The match officials will wear a tracking device round their necks

All 12 Indian and three foreign umpires, besides five Indian match referees, have tested negative ahead of the Indian Premier League even as they complied with the strict quarantine protocol.
Their quarantine period is about to end on a positive note, and they are ready to officiate in the much-awaited 13th IPL starting on September 19.
When the match officials would come out of the quarantine in a day or two and enter the bio-bubble for the IPL matches, they would be required to wear in the necks a device that would track their movements to keep them secure.
Each official was tested on the first, third, and the fifth days of their six-day quarantine period, and they all have returned negative results, a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) source told IANS.
The 20 match officials underwent the mandatory Covid-19 tests as per the requirements of the UAE government.
The match officials were earlier tested on landing at the Dubai airport, and then the three tests followed at their respective hotels.
One team of these officials is lodged in Abu Dhabi and the other in Dubai. The Abu Dhabi team will officiate in 20 league matches to be played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium while the other team is a larger one and these officials will officiate in 24 league games in Dubai and 12 in Sharjah.
The 12 Indian umpires are: Anil Chaudhary, C. Shamshuddin, Virender Sharma, K.N. Ananthapadmanabhan, Nitin Menon, S. Ravi, Vineet Kulkarni, Yashwant Barde, Ulhas Gandhe, Anil Dandekar, K Srinivasan, and Pashchim Pathak.
The non-Indian umpires are Richard Illingworth of England, former Australian speedster Paul Reiffel, and Christopher Gaffaney of New Zealand.
And all five match referees are Indians: Javagal Srinath, Manu Nayar, V Narayan Kutty, Shakti Singh, and Prakash Bhatt.

• IPL 2019