This year's Indian Premier League Opening Ceremony "could be a less vibrant affair," according to Digbijay Mishra of the Indian BUSINESS STANDARD. The Board of Control for Cricket in India plans "to keep the event low-key amid allegations of spot-fixing and betting in last year's tournament." Sources claim that the BCCI, which on average spent around Rs 25 crore ($4.1M) on IPL Opening Ceremonies in the previous editions, "could trim the budget by over 40 per cent this year." A person familiar with the development said, "It could well be below Rs 15 crore ($2.5M) this year." BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel confirmed that the cricket governing body "would not splurge on the opening ceremony this year." An IPL governing council member said, "We do not want to spend too much on the opening ceremony, as the main focus is on the game rather than things around that." Sources said that the primary reason for the low-key event "remains the controversies surrounding IPL." An IPL governing council member who asked not to be named said, "Keeping things modest is safer right now because IPL has been receiving a lot of negative attention. Too much glitz may again put questions over source of revenue and lead to further controversy" (BUSINESS STANDARD, 3/30).
