BCB rules out FICA’s allegation over BPL payment

DHAKA: Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) initiated legal proceedings against Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the franchises involved in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) following a widespread failure to pay players.

Immediately after the FICA’s move, BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal told banglanews over phone, “No BPL Player has yet made any complaint to the BCB for his due… Chief Executive of FICA Tim May did not even give us any list of unpaid players.”

“In fact the payment was delayed due to some limitations as we held such tournament for the first time and no franchise said that it would not pay the dues,” he added.

BCB president again said, “I am requesting the foreign and local players to knock BCB for their dues and we will take initiatives to pay them.”

The first session of the BPL ended in February. Despite repeated assurances and deadlines, FICA was informed that many players have yet to receive full payment. As a result, the players’ organisation has instructed lawyers in Dhaka to file a claim against the relevant franchises and the BCB.

“This is a black and white matter,” Tim May told ESPNcricinfo. “It was stipulated by contract how much the players would be paid and the date by which they would receive payment. It was also stipulated that, if the franchises couldn’t pay, then the BCB would act as guarantors and would make the payments.

“We have been waiting for four months. Deadlines have come and gone and all we have had is a litany of excuses. It has come to the stage where all avenues of dialogue have dried up and the BCB have stopped responding to FICA.

“If it was not such a serious matter, some of the excuses they are coming up with would be amusing. They have said there are foreign currency issues, for example, but even some of the Bangladesh players have not been paid. They keep saying the payments will be made tomorrow, or next week, or the week after, but it has never happened.”

May derided the behaviour of the Bangladesh board as ‘amateurish’ and even questioned the integrity of some of those involved in the organisation of the tournament which attracted such diverse overseas players as Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Stuart MacGill and Peter Trego. Afridi, who topped the auction at $700,000, was reported last month as saying that he had been paid.

BDST: 2103 HRS, JUN 09, 2012
Edited by: Abul Kalam Azad, Newsroom Editor