The likes of Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith may be delayed in joining their IPL franchises © AFP Enlarge

South African players are unlikely to participate in the Indian Premier League till April 25th, as they will be involved in the Standard Bank Pro20 matches in South Africa. The franchises were informed of the development by the IPL governing council in a meeting held in Mumbai, where a host of administrative issues surrounding the league were discussed.

Ten South African players have been signed on by the eight IPL franchises, and a few of them, depending on how their domestic teams fare in the Pro20, might join their IPL teams after the tournament ends on 25th.

However, a franchise representative was confident the players would be available for the full duration. "The decision is not final as yet. We are in the process of talking to the players, their teams and the board and we will work something out."

In among other things that were discussed in the meeting, each franchise has been allotted a liason officer from a South African agency, which was involved with the ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa, who will travel with the teams and oversee the security preparations.

The meeting saw a host of experts from the consulting firm IMG counselling the franchises on the issues ranging from security, accredition, ticketing, and movement of officials across grounds, and entertainment guidelines. "Not many of us [franchises] have prior experience in organising games and this meeting was very helpful in that regard," a franchise representative said.