The BCCI has given an ultimatum to the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to sort out their police pass issue with local authorities in three days,with a threat that their two play-off games the semifinals will be shifted from Wankhede Stadium to Bangalores Chinnaswamy Stadium. With terror attacks and bomb blast threats looming large in the city during cricket matches,the Mumbai Police had made it mandatory to carry a police pass without which even accreditation card holders cannot get in. The BCCI has taken strong exception to the manner in which the police pass issue has been carried out. We pointed out that all these accreditations were done centrally and were authentic and there was no reason why these cards should not be considered for entry, BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty told Newsline. Earlier,the BCCI received several complaints regarding the police passes when broadcasters threatened to not telecast any Wankhede game if the issue wasnt sorted out. The media and broadcast members keep changing as per their assignments. So it is not possible for everyone to carry a police pass. There have been many instances when the police has stopped broadcasters because they didnt have the police pass, added Shetty,who along with the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan,was not allowed to enter because they didnt have a police pass. The MCA has now requested their president Sharad Pawar to intervene and some officials will be meeting the Maharashtra Home Secretary on Thursday afternoon. Shetty,who is also the MCA treasurer,explained,We have informed our president and sought his help on the issue. If this matter is not resolved,no matches will be played at Wankhede. Thorough security checking is required. Not even the Police Commissioner is allowed to enter the ground without police accreditation. Then why are the BCCI officials making an issue out of it? Egos should be kept aside when it comes to security of thousands of people, said DCP (Operations) Rajkumar Vhatkar. A police spokesperson said they were aware that some reports were circulating about IPL matches having to shift from Mumbai to Bangalore,but he wasnt aware of any such move and there was no security related issue as far as the police was concerned.with pti inputs
