Dubai continues to be venue of choice

The UAE and Dubai continues to be the venue of choice with the activities of the brand new T20 League - the South Africa Global T20 League - returning to the city of happiness, towards the end of this month.

The eight owners and representatives of the teams as well as the organisers of the League will hold a owners meeting in Dubai on September 22 and 23. The agenda as well as the venue will be announced in due course.

This is the second time that they will be holding a conference in Dubai. In the build-up to the inaugural season of the League, the eight team owners and representatives of the teams, and the organisers had converged in Dubai for a two-day workshop on July 29 and 30.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) CEO Haroon Lorgat had told the Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview then that Dubai was the preferred and convenient destination and logistically worked out well for all the parties concerned to hold the workshop here. Lorgat had also revealed that there would be many more meetings and perhaps, other activities in Dubai, before the competition gets rolling on November 3. The tournament runs until December 16.

The South Africa Global T20 League has a distinct Dubai touch to it with two of the team owners hailing from the city. Dubai's Suhail Galadari has partnered with Javed Afridi to co-own the Benoni Zalmi franchise, while Dubai-based Ajay Sethi, Chairman of Channel 2 Group, owns the Nelson Mandela Bay Stars.

They are joined by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan's Cape Town Knight Riders, GMR Group's Joburg Giants as well as Durban Qalandars and Pretoria Mavericks. Bollywood actress Preity Zinta is the latest to make a foray into the League by taking up the ownership of Stellenbosch Monarchs.

The two-day workshop, back in July, had focused on the menace of corruption and the all team owners were united in their stance in booting out the evil and setting the tone for the League. Information and plans were discussed and shared, with the running theme being on how to tackle corruption.

Sir Ronnie Flanagan, chairman of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Anti-Corruption & Security Unit had addressed the owners during the workshop.

"We always had it in our plans to meet with all the owners once we had decided who the eight team owners were. We needed to do this workshop to share lot of planning, lot of information. There was lot of detail. The two full days were extremely good. I think a lot of the owners appreciated the information and the plans that we shared with them. So, it was always in our agenda to meet up with them because collectively, we want to make this a very successful League," Lorgat had said.

"In a sense, we are fortunate that we have got four existing team owners, we have got four new team owners, lot's of excitement in the room. I'm extremely pleased with the quality of the owners that we have got. So, we needed to share all of the knowledge and information amongst all of us," the former ICC CEO had added.

Lorgat said that fight against corruption, which had riddled cricket, was one of the main themes of the workshop.

"We were very clear, right up front and we invited Sir Ronnie Flanagan from the ICC to explain the risks around corruption and the need to make sure that we are alert to it because this is a global challenge that we have got in the sport of cricket, or indeed in any sport. Sir Ronnie was clear in his message which is what we want, that the owners themselves must take responsibility to ensure that we are vigilant around the risks of corruption. So, it was a very good session and every one of the owners were inspired by the challenge and the need for them to do something and to be right up front in setting the tone," the 57-year-old had said.

Source: Khaleej Times