IPL 2021 umpire Paul Reiffel is not getting a flight to go home

IPL 2021 umpire Paul Reiffel is not getting a flight to go home.

Australian referee Paul Reiffel, who along with Indian referee Nitin Menon had recently decided to withdraw from IPL 2021 for “personal reasons”, has not been able to fly out of India. Reiffel will now serve the rest of the competition and will return home only after the conclusion of the tournament, according to Australian media reports.

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Reiffel told the Sydney morning herald Thursday from his hotel in Ahmedabad that his bags were packed and tickets booked for a flight to Sydney from Doha, only to be told he would have to stay. “I tried to leave, but the flight through Doha, I couldn’t pass as an Australian,” Reiffel said.

“They closed the avenue. I know a couple of the guys came back that way over there, but the avenue was closed, so I had to stay, “Reiffel said.

Reiffel, a former international cricketer from Australia, is currently a member of the ICC Elite Panel of Referees.

READ | Referee Nitin Menon withdraws from IPL 2021

Reiffel said Thursday that he was 10 minutes away from leaving the IPL bio bubble when he learned that he would not be allowed to fly to Australia via Doha.

If Reiffel had left the bio bubble before he found out about the change in travel plans, he would have been stranded. Then, he would have been asked to complete a period of self-isolation before he could participate in the remainder of the IPL season.