Karnataka Minister Defends Ahmedabad Final Shift Amidst Speculation

Bengaluru. After the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to host the IPL 2026 final match in Ahmedabad instead of Bengaluru, the Karnataka government has defended it.

Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara, speaking to reporters on Thursday, stated that the final match was moved due to commercial benefits and stadium capacity.

Although it was decided that the final would be held in Bengaluru as per the tradition of holding the final at the home ground of the defending champion, the BCCI announced on Wednesday that the final on May 31 would be held in Ahmedabad. Home Minister Parameshwara said that the BCCI chose Ahmedabad because the seating capacity at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium is less.

‘As we have received information unofficially, the seating capacity here is only 33,000, of which about 7-8 thousand seats are reserved for VIPs and sponsors,’ he said, ‘The stadium in Ahmedabad has a seating capacity of more than one lakh, so commercially they must have decided to move the match there.’

He refuted the speculation that the match was moved due to weaknesses in security or management. He clarified that no complaints have been received regarding security in the matches held in Bengaluru so far, and no one is dissatisfied with the police or administration.

He also denied the allegation that the match was moved because free tickets were distributed to the MLAs. ‘Does it have any relation to ticket distribution, what difference do a few passes make?’ he questioned.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had also clarified on Wednesday that the availability of a larger stadium was the main reason. Last March, Shivakumar's announcement to give three free IPL tickets to each MLA had drawn widespread criticism.

After the MLAs complained in the assembly about seating arrangements and not getting tickets, Speaker U.T. Khader directed the government to arrange for tickets.

Meanwhile, in a statement released by the BCCI, it was mentioned that the venue had to be changed because ‘some demands of the local association and officials were outside the board's guidelines and protocols.’ However, the BCCI has not clarified what those demands were.

Other playoff matches this year are scheduled to be held in Dharamshala and New Chandigarh. Ahmedabad has also hosted the final match in previous seasons.