The International Indian Film Academy Awards or IIFA awards that was scheduled to be held in Madhya Pradesh in March has now been postponed due to the ongoing spread of the coronavirus. A press release by IIFA states that, “... keeping the health and safety of IIFA’s fans and the general community at large, after consulting the Madhya Pradesh government, the IIFA management, and stakeholders from the film industry it has been decided to postpone to a later date the much-awaited IIFA Weekend and Awards 2020 celebrations which were originally scheduled at the end of March 2020.”
The IIFA awards 2020 were to be held in Indore and the star-studded show was to be hosted by Salman Khan. Here’s the complete statement that was released by IIFA on Friday afternoon:
“With due regard to the growing concerns around the spread of the COVID-19 virus and keeping the health and safety of IIFA’s fans and the general community at large, after consulting the Madhya Pradesh government, the IIFA management, and stakeholders from the film industry it has been decided to postpone to a later date the much-awaited IIFA Weekend and Awards 2020 celebrations which were originally scheduled at the end of March 2020.
A fresh date and plans for hosting IIFA in Madhya Pradesh will be announced at the earliest. IIFA is fully committed to ensure the safety of the citizens and legions of IIFA fans who travel from across the globe to attend and experience the magic of IIFA.
We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused, and hope that all concerned understand the sensitivity of the situation.”
The IIFA awards were first presented in 2000 at The Millennium Dome in London, United Kingdom and have since then been held at various international locations. It’s only last year that the IIFA awards were held in Mumbai, reportedly due to budget constraints and absence of sponsorship.
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