Pakistan Cricket Board Issues Notices to Defaulters
The Pakistan Cricket Board has launched a recovery campaign against defaulters, issuing notices directing them to make payments within the stipulated deadline.
Following the conclusion of the 11th edition of the PSL, officials began their recovery drive. Billions of rupees are currently outstanding from various stakeholders. After repeated reminders failed to yield results, officials adopted a stricter stance.
Notices were sent to several entities, including early PSL franchises, stating that contracts would be terminated if payments were not made by April 29. Several franchises subsequently cleared their full dues.
When questioned about the unpaid PKR 400 million owed to each franchise, officials stated that payment of franchise fees is mandatory under the agreement. They added: “How can we pay you until we receive payments from other stakeholders?”
Previously, after partial payment of fees, the remaining amount was adjusted from the central revenue pool. This time, a different approach has been adopted.
For the 10th PSL edition, each franchise was supposed to receive PKR 975 million (97.5 crore) as its share. However, a key stakeholder owes the PCB PKR 4.7 billion, much of which is related to the PSL. This stakeholder has been avoiding payment due to financial losses.
Due to this issue, the PCB did not allow two TV channels to participate in bidding for the current edition’s media rights. Surprisingly, the new company that acquired the broadcasting rights permitted those same channels to air the matches.
Learning from past experience, the PCB secured a bank guarantee from the new media rights holder, which can be cashed in case of non-payment.
Meanwhile, both new teams and the new owner of Multan Sultans have already paid their full franchise fees in advance. Since this is their first year, they are not entitled to any share from previous central revenue pools.
Owners who purchased teams at high prices had been assured a minimum of PKR 850 million (85 crore) annually from the central pool for the first five years. However, the final amount will only be determined once the accounts are fully settled.