The Bangladesh Cricket Board began to clear the payments to Bangladesh Premier League players on Tuesday, though a large portion of the payment will
remain unresolved due to the non-cooperation of some franchises, officials said.
National batsmen Nasir Hossain and Junaed Siddique of the Rangpur Riders and Test opener Shariar Nafees of the Khulna Royal Bengals are among the few cricketers who received payment on the first day.
Ismail Haider Mallick, member secretary of the BPL governing council, told reporters that they are paying the players subject to the approval of their respective franchises.
‘We have started giving payment to those players whose franchises have provided us with the list,’ said Mallick.
‘The decision was that we will pay 25 per cent of the players’ payment before Eid-ul-Fitr. Hopefully we can pay 50 per cent of the players now. The remaining players will get their money after Eid.’
The players’ payment has remained a talking point since the second edition of BPL ended in February, as most of the franchises failed to meet certain deadlines. The same problem also haunted the tournament in its first edition in 2012.
The BCB decided to play the role of guarantor in the second edition, giving an assurance of payment and raising confidence among local and foreign cricketers.
However, doubts started to build about the payment after all the franchises apart from the Dhaka Gladiators and Duronto Rajshahi failed to keep their commitment to clear 50 per cent of the wages.
The BCB decided to clear at least 50 per cent of the payments in their meeting on July 29 meeting.
As per the bylaws of the competition, players were supposed to have received 50 per cent of their payment by the end of the tournament, while the rest was to be cleared within six months after the end of the competition. The tournament was completed on February 19, 2013.
Among the defaulters, the Rangpur Riders have already provided the BPL with the players’ statement, while Duronto Rajshahi and the Khulna Royal Bengals have given statements about their foreign player dues.
‘Rangpur and Rajshahi have already given us the statement, but we need to know the exact amount,’ said BPL secretary Mallick. ‘Some of the franchisees gave the payment straight to the players without any involvement of the BCB, and we need to know that as well.’
-With New Age input
