With the second edition of Bangladesh Premier League less than a week away, many franchises are yet to complete the payment of local players and obtain a no-objection certificate from its organisers.
The BPL governing council asked the franchisees to submit the NOC as there are many claims and counter-claims, which left the authority confused about the payment status of certain players.
If a player has handed over an NOC to a franchise it is deemed that he has received his full payment and has no further legal claim. With the time running out fast, it has been alleged that some franchises asked the players to give their NOC after making a mere promise.
It has happened to Sohag Gazi and Sohrwardi Shuvo, who are the two examples, who played for Barisal Burners in the inaugural edition of the BPL. On Thursday, Burners invited them at their Bailey Road office and on arrival they were requested to sign the NOC. When they asked for cheques, they were promised to give those on Sunday.
Sohag and Sohrawardi returned without signing, but not many players had the courage to do so.
Nasir Hossain gave his former franchise Khulna Royal Bengal his NOC without getting his arrear dues of Tk 74 lakh. The BPL governing council said Nasir has lost his legal claim over the money as he has signed the paper.
‘Many players had an under-hand dealing with franchisees before the auction last year. As a result the auction-price and their mutual price differed, resulting in confusion,’ said BPL governing council secretary Ismail Haider Mallick.
‘So we asked the franchisees to take the NOC from the players. If a player signs an NOC it is means he has been fully paid and has no further claims. Now if someone gave the NOC without getting his payment, we cannot really help him,’ he said.
Nasir accepted the reality and left the matter to Khulna, saying that he won’t be any poorer in case they don’t pay him the money.
‘If someone can be rich without paying me my money, let him be rich. It won’t make me any poorer,’ grumbled the all-rounder after Friday’s Bangladesh Cricket League match at Mirpur.
The situation is different for some other players who received a pay cheque but they are not sure if the bank will honour it at all. Nazimuddin gave his NOC to Dhaka Gladiators after he received a post-dated cheque.
Cricketers Welfare Association secretary Debabrata Paul said he is maintaining a regular contact with Nazim, who has submitted his cheque to the bank and is now waiting for it to be cleared.
‘Nazim has deposited his cheque to his bank account and by Monday we would be able to know if it was honoured,’ said Debabrata, adding that the player has the option to go to the court in case the bank refuses it.
Unfortunately for some players like Nasir the door of the court is also now closed.
-With New Age input
