The ongoing payment issue in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) for the 2024-25 season has taken a new turn. Durban Rajshahi’s overseas players are stranded in their team hotel in Dhaka after the franchise continued to miss the payment deadlines. The Bangladesh government even formed a committee to look into the issue.
The three-member committee comprises the NSA director, Humayun Kabir, the assistant director, Sajia Afrin, and the NSC chairman’s private secretary, Saiful Islam. The committee has taken seven days to resolve the issue.
But the problem seems to have increased. The team owner of the BPL and the management haven’t responded to the players’ calls for updates as they are still waiting for the air tickets. As the report has been filled, the players are still stuck in Dhaka.
“The attention of the National Sports Council (NSC) has been drawn to various media reports about the players’ payment issue in the ongoing BPL. The country’s image, through the BCB and BPL, will be hurt if the payments are not made according to the contracts.” The sports ministry expressed this in a press conference.
Rajshahi’s overseas and local players are yet to get full payment despite BPL 2024-25 commitments
Rajshahi was eliminated from this season of the BPL on February 01 when the Khulna Tigers beat Dhaka Capitals on the last day of the league stage. Pakistan’s opening batter, Mohammad Haris, Aftab Alam from Afghanistan, West Indies’ Miguel Cummins and Mark Deyal, and Zimbabwe’s Ryan Burl are waiting for some portion of their due payments.
A couple of these six players have been paid 25% of the contract, while a few haven’t been paid at all. Additionally, a few of these players haven’t received a daily allowance for the last 11 days.
The BPL team has been smashed by financial problems from the start of the league. Anamul Haque, the country’s batter, revealed that the local players hadn’t also received any payments before the start of the tournament as they are usually paid 25% before the competition takes place.
They boycotted a training session in Chattogram last month while the overseas players took their name from the match. Burl and Haris also made themselves available to play and helped them to stay in contention for the playoff qualification but fell short on net run rate. They ended at the fifth position among the seven franchises with victories and as many defeats in 12 games at a net run rate of -1.03.
The BPL franchise’s owner, Shafique Rahman, got into trouble with the team hotel in Chattogram after failing to pay them on time. Photos of the security personnel sitting outside his room went viral, while Rahman’s car was seized by the hotel authorities. Later, the Rajshahi team returned to Dhaka, and they were forced to check out of one hotel due to payment issues.
The member-secretary of BPL’s governing council, Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, addressed the Bangladesh Cricket Board didn’t check the franchise properly when they were taken on board last year.
“I think we didn’t judge the franchises properly. I think we didn’t verify their experience and financial strength. It has now put us in a difficult situation.” Fahim told.
Bangladesh’s sports adviser, Asif Mahmud, elaborated that he spoke to Rahman and warned him of the consequences.
“I spoke to the Rajshahi owner, who assured us that he will clear the payments. I have told him clearly that if he fails to do so, we will take legal steps. No more discussions. Our fact-finding committee will be looking into how this team came to be.” He highlighted.
The final of the BPL 2024-25 will take place on February 07 in Mirpur.