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FICA satisfied with IPL's new security promises

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March 02, 2010 12:33 IST

It warned of mass withdrawls from the Indian Premier League but the Federation of International Cricketers Association now says such a scenario is unlikely to arise as IPL organisers have given fresh commitments on the security of players.

After the Al-Qaeda threat against the event was deemed "not credible" by various security experts, FICA chief Tim May said IPL's new promises would "certainly improve confidence in security".

"This is a significant step forward. The more information you provide the players with, the greater the likelihood that they will attend the event," May told BBC Sport.

After refusing to deal with players' bodies all along, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said he was ecstatic that "everybody is on the same page about the security arrangements".

"This is very good news for us - I don't think there will be any withdrawals at all. Already a lot of the players are on planes on their way to India and will arrive in the next few days," he said.

Modi, who had earlier claimed that heavens won't fall if foreign players refuse to come for the IPL, said security was paramount.

"Security is very important to us. We have not had to change our plans, I think it is more a case of the players now understanding them. I think they are more comfortable with the plans being implemented," he said.

Meanwhile, May said after struggling to get information of security plans from the IPL in the past few weeks, some details are finally trickling in.

"We have a significant amount of information we did not have previously, which will assist players making far more informed decisions about whether to go or not," he said.

"We haven't reached utopia yet, but the new information has given us greater confidence. Last week we were operating in an information vacuum."

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