CPL faces cash crunch

St Kitts & Nevis v England – Tour Match
General view of Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts & Nevis.
Action Images via Reuters / Jason O’Brien
The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has continued to experience the fallout from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, but remains confident this year’s showpiece in St. Kitts and Nevis would be a success.
For the second straight year, players and officials will be subject to a pay cut and even though fans could return for this year’s tournament, they will have to be fully vaccinated and limited to only half the capacity of the Warner Park venue.
Director of Operations, Michael Hall noted that all global sport events staged in the pandemic environment had taken a financial hit and CPL was no different.
Organizers successfully staged the popular Twenty20 franchise tournament in Trinidad and Tobago last year at the height of the pandemic, with players and officials entrenched in a bio-secure bubble and guided by strict government protocols.
And while strict health protocols will obtain for this year’s edition, the fact is that St. Kitts and Nevis has recorded only 44 infections since the start of the pandemic, has further boosted the confidence of the organizers.
Hall said the Trinidad experience had been a critical learning curve.