Empty seats to force IPL final out of Chennai?

CHENNAI: With three stands (G, H, I) at the MA Chidamba­ram Stadium, each with a cap­acity of 4,000 seats, perfo­rce remaining unoccupied for want of building approval from the Chennai Corporati­on, there is talk of two marquee IPL matches — qualifier 2 (on May 25) and the final (on May 27) — being shifted out of the city to ensure a full house. The BCCI, however, denies such a move.While IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla says that “there is no such plan” and TNCA secret­ary Kashi Vishwanathan has “no information” on a change of venue, the BCCI reporte­dly stands to lose Rs 2 crore per match if the Chepauk stadium stands remain unoccupied and is under pressure from TV rights-holders to resolve the issue, giving rise to speculation about an alternative host for the matches.Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Kol­k­ata and Bangalore are said to be the contenders.Shifting matches is, of cou­rse, not a simple process. Me­anwhile, the Tamil Nadu Cri­c­ket Association (TNCA), co­­­ntinuing to find sanction for the galleries — sealed in Oc­tober last year — elusive, is believed to have approac­hed the Chennai Metropolit­an Development Authority (CMDA) for approval.