Abu Dhabi "heralded the arrival" of the Indian Premier League with an evening of "fireworks, music, dance and celebration," according to Kyle Sinclair of THE NATIONAL. All eight of the IPL teams were "present to mark the start of the cricket tournament and were treated to performances from Bollywood stars including Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone." But "behind the glitz and glamour there were some serious messages to be taken from the gala event" held Tuesday at the Emirates Palace hotel. Interim Board of Control for Cricket in India President Sunil Gavaskar said, "This is a great opportunity for the UAE to make cricket part of the psyche of the country" (THE NATIONAL, 4/16).
MEDIA BOYCOTT: REUTERS reported a "number of news agencies have decided against covering" the IPL Twenty20 competition in India and the UAE due to the "exclusion of some photo agencies from covering matches." Reuters, the AFP and the AP will send "no reporters or photographers to the tournament, which begins on Wednesday, as a protest against the IPL's limit on editorial freedom." The photo agencies, including Getty Images and Action Images, "supply publishers of editorial newspapers and websites around the world with images from sporting events in numerous countries without problems, but have been excluded from covering the seventh edition of the IPL following a disagreement regarding the commercialisation of images" (REUTERS, 4/16).