Cricket's lucrative Indian Premier League will be held abroad this year, organisers said on Sunday, blaming the government for being unable to provide security for the showpiece tournament.

An IPL source said South Africa and England were being considered as the new venue for the six-week tournament, whose high-paying contracts have attracted some of the most celebrated players in the game.

Safety has been a major worry after the attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai in November and an attack targeting the Sri Lankan cricket side in Pakistan this month that left eight people dead and eight people from the team wounded.

But the Indian government said it could not lay on additional security because of deployments for national elections being held at almost exactly the same time as the April 10-May 24 tournament.

"Due to the attitude of the government that it cannot provide security for the tournament, we are forced to take a decision to move the IPL out of India," the country's cricket chief Shashank Manohar told reporters.

"A final decision on the venue will be announced in two to three days."

The tournament, which pits star-studded teams against each other in the short-form Twenty20 format of the game, was eagerly awaited by millions of fans in India after its inaugural event last year proved a huge success.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said the 59 matches in the event would be scheduled so that they still fell at 4pm and 8pm in India, prime time for the massive cricket audience in this nation of more than one billion people.

Manohar said he wanted to "apologise to the people of India for moving the tournament," but stressed India's cricket board was not left with any other option.

"The tournament generated a lot of interest last year and we wanted the same to happen this year. It will still be popular, whether it is watched at the ground or on television," he said.

Indian authorities declined to release security forces needed to guard the tournament due to the five-phase parliamentary elections that will take place from April 16 to May 13.

Federal Home Minister P. Chidambaram said last week that the elections were "unquestionably" first priority for the government.

"I can't exempt any state government from giving to the election commission the forces they have promised," Chidambaram said. "I have also made it clear that I cannot spare any central paramilitary forces (for the IPL)."

At stake was a tournament that has generated more than 900 million dollars in television rights, and tens of millions of dollars in advertising, players' fees, merchandising and tickets.

As the government's position became clear, advertisers and sponsors had expressed concern over the prospect of losing their big chance of the year to reach fervent cricket fans in India and around the world.

Coca-Cola and Vodafone are among the IPL's major sponsors, keen to associate themselves with India's adored players such as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar as well as international stars such as Kevin Pietersen.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said the sport's tour calendar made it impossible to reschedule, and the decision to move abroad was made after several meetings with the government.

South Africa's cricket authorities confirmed they had been approached by the BCCI for exploratory talks about hosting the tournament.

The England and Wales Cricket Board also confirmed on Sunday that they are looking into the feasibility of staging the event.

"The ECB have confirmed that, at the request of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) / Indian Premier League (IPL) ECB is examining the feasiblity of hosting the 2009 IPL in England and Wales," a statement read.

"The IPL is scheduled to be played between April 10 and May 24, 2009 and officials from both Boards have held exploratory discussions to relocate the tournament to England and Wales. Further meetings will be held during the forthcoming week."