Fans set to return to CPL this year

As is seen across some sporting events in Europe and the UK, as well as the United States, Caribbean fans, in particular the island of St Kitts, will get a chance to once again witness live sporting events this year.

The announcement was made by the Hon Jonel Powell, St Kitts & Nevis minister for education, youth, sports and culture, following a press briefing for the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which will take place in St Kitts & Nevis in its entirety.

All 33 games will be played in the Federation with the tournament set to get under way on August 28 with a similar format of games that transpired in 2020.

Sporting events in St Kitts will allow a 50 per cent capacity of venues for fully vaccinated patrons, and Powell was delighted that his nation can lead the charge for the return of live sports across the region.

Currently, St Kitts has only 44 cases of the coronavirus with no serious cases and no deaths to date.

"We have been maintaining very strict protocols and obviously, those plans have worked for us. We are very much trying to encourage vaccination in achieving herd immunity that we need to release a lot of the restrictions that we have," Powell said.

"We take it one day at a time and just by the ability of us to readmit spectators to sporting events, once fully vaccinated, shows that we are committed to continuing the safe approach to handling the pandemic."

Bubble style format

The 2021 CPL will once again operate in a bubble style format similar to the one that was implemented for last year's tournament in Trinidad.

Warner Park will be the only venue for this year's tournament, which is slated to host over 200 players, officials and staff.

Several international stars are expected to sign up in the draft for this year's tournament in preparation for the ICC T20 World Cup which will be held later this year.

With that, CPL COO Pete Russell is anticipating another exciting tournament in St Kitts and Nevis.

"We are delighted to be able to announce that we will be having the Hero CPL in St Kitts & Nevis in 2021, and we would like to thank those involved in welcoming the tournament to this wonderful country. As was demonstrated during the 2020 tournament, the CPL is a massive boost for the host country, with US$51.5 million delivered in sponsorship value for Trinidad & Tobago. We are looking forward to giving St Kitts & Nevis the exposure they deserve," Russell said.