23 March,2009 12:51 PM IST | | PTI
It is 'painful' to shift the Indian Premier League from India but with 'hands tied' they had no option except for relocating the tournament, says the Commissioner and Chairman of the cash-rich event, Lalit Lodi.
"I personally worked so hard over so many years to build the IPL here and to me it's very painful to see this. But it would have been more painful for us not to have the tournament at all. So we had to take one decision or other," Modi said.
"We tried very very hard to keep the tournament in India. We had multiple venues, multiple dates. We tried everything in the book to keep it here but our hands got tied and we were pushed to the wall. We had no choice but to move it out," Modi, also a BCCI vice president, added.
Modi was disappointed by the response of the states and the conditions they put on holding the event. "It is unfortunate that some states have decided to pull out and they are crucial states.
ALSO READ
‘Lalit Modi threatened to end my career’: Praveen Kumar
Modi questions BCCI for allowing betting-related company to buy new IPL team
Betting companies can buy IPL team, tweets Lalit Modi; CVC Capital under scanner
From La Liga to 6 Nations, IPL franchise owner has seen sports portfolio spiral
Lalit Modi slams IPL-14’s lack of sensitivity in face of Covid crisis
"Maharashtra for example is a crucial state for us. We had 18 games planned in Maharashtra.
"We were ready to look at it and even changing the games from certain days to after the polls but to move the games totally after 13th of May, that is what Maharashtra has indicated to us, it is just not possible," Modi told NDTV.
