The Indian Premier League will move its cricket matches to South Africa

The Indian Premier League will move its cricket matches to South Africa because of concerns about security after terror attacks in Lahore, Pakistan, and Mumbai.The five-week, 59-game tournament will start April 18, the IPL and Cricket South Africa, or CSA, said today. South Africa was competing with the U.K. to be host, and won mostly because the weather will be better, officials said.

The IPL, featuring the shorter Twenty20 form of the game, brought in $200 million last year, and organizers raised $1.8 billion from sponsors, television rights and franchise fees. The tournament was moved after some Indian state governments questioned whether they could provide security for matches and voting scheduled for the same time. South Africa hosted the first Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 and convinced the IPL that its cricket grounds could handle the event and attract crowds.

There will be a lot of disappointment that the IPL wont take place in India this year, but being in South Africa will allow our fans to watch it live on their television screens, Lalit Modi, the IPLs chairman and commissioner, said at a press conference in Johannesburg. Its been one of the hardest decisions weve ever had to make.

Almost 714 million Indians, equivalent to the combined population of U.S., Russia, Japan and the Philippines, will vote between April 16 and May 13 to elect 543 representatives. The election caused the Board of Control for Cricket in India to decide last weekend to move the tournament because of security. Indias home minister a day later said every game in India was safe.