Modi: IPL Will Stay in India

Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi has hit out at the media for exaggerating security fears and insists the tournament will proceed in its home country as planned.

Australian Cricketers' Association chief executive Paul Marsh had earlier revealed some "serious concerns" had emerged from an independent report into security for the league, but Modi is adamant the competition will remain in India and that security concerns are being overplayed.
Problem

"We are going to have the tournament in India. I can't see any reason why we should move it at this point in time," Modi told BBC Sport.

"The media is reacting to every fringe group saying security is a problem."

A report from security expert Reg Dickason was recently commissioned by players' associations from Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa following a threat from 313 Brigade, which has been linked to terror group Al-Qaeda.

And Marsh admits the ACA have asked the IPL for further assurances as a result of Dickason's findings.

"The independent report has identified some serious concerns with aspects of the current security process," said Marsh.

"Specifically these concerns relate to the reported direct threat against the event and the status and implementation of the IPL's security plan.

"The process from here is for all players associated to meet with their player groups and for all of us to feed back the concerns raised from these meetings to the IPL.

"This will be coordinated through our peak body the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA). From here we will await a response from the IPL."

Threats

The security report was commissioned after Ilyas Kashmiri of the 313 Brigade made threats to any athletes attending sporting events in India.

"We warn the international community not to send their people to the 2010 Hockey World Cup, IPL and Commonwealth Games. Nor should their people visit India - if they do, they will be responsible for the consequences," said Kashmiri.

But Modi insists that, although 100% safety is never guaranteed, the best possible security plans have been laid for the tournament.

"Nobody in the world can safeguard the safety of the players in any tournament," said Modi.

"All we have to do is ensure we are putting on the best security. Safety is paramount to us and we are working with the national and state governments to ensure we have good security in place."