Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan on Friday took the blame for the recent players’ payment issue that saw many cricketers still remaining unpaid for their participation in the Dhaka Premier League. The BCB has introduced a new payment system this year for the DPL despite their bitter experience in the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 competition but it seemed the old woes have yet to be healed.
Clubs took the same path of the BPL franchises leaving the players without any pay, which also put the wisdom of the BCB officials in question.
Speaking at a press conference while launching a new Twenty20 competition, Nazmul had no choice but to accept the failure.
‘Regarding the board’s [involvement] I am responsible, there is no doubt about that,’ he said.
Club officials said they will clear the players’ payment only when they receive the grant from the BCB, something which left Nazmul stunned in front of the media.
When it was pointed out to him that many clubs are yet to clear their DPL payments, Nazmul demanded a clarification from Ismail Haider Mallick, a BCB director who is linked to Abahani.
Mallick said they will clear the payment only when they get the remaining part of the BCB grant.
‘The BCB is yet to pay us Tk 10 lakh,’ he said. ‘We owe only Tk 18 lakh to players, once we get the BCB grant we will complete the payment,’ he said.
It may be mentioned that the BCB this year announced a Tk 35 lakh grant for the DPL clubs, which many said is a post-election gift.
The amount is higher than Tk 25 lakh, which the BCB awarded to the clubs as compensation for releasing their players in the first season of the BPL.
‘I on behalf of the clubs negotiated with the board in the first edition of BPL,’ said Nazmul, referring to his position as Abahani cricket committee chairman during the first season of BPL.
‘This was done for only one occasion. But it is becoming a trend that the board will give the money,’ Nazmul said. ‘This must be stopped.’
BCB director Khaled Mahmud said it will look into the matter of players’ payment for the newly-launched Twenty20 tournament.
‘The payments will be done through the BCB. We spoke to the clubs and asked them to pay the players through the Board and they agreed,’ he said.
-With New Age input
