WCA advocates for timely player payments in franchise leagues

The issue of foreign players not getting their pay on time from the franchises of the different T20 leagues has become a burning debate. Previously, the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) had launched an action against one of its franchises for delays in payment to overseas players. Other leagues such as the Abu Dhabi T10 league and Cayman Max60 also came under the scanner for the same issue. 

With the matters escalating with every passing moon, cricket's global player union has called for the introduction of "basic global protections" to safeguard foreign players from pay issues. The World Cricketers' Association (WCA) has also listed 53 men's and women's leagues and others which do not have ICC approval under 'leagues hub'. The association has alleged that 17 of those leagues fall under issues of late payments or non-payment. 

"Late and non-payment is a persistent issue in domestic leagues globally, and the issue is not getting better. We have advocated for a long time for some basic global protections that could assist the players, and the game, to address this issue,” said Tom Moffat, the WCA's chief executive as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

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"In any league that is officially sanctioned, players should have confidence that their contracts have some basic protections and minimum standards in them. These include standards around payment terms, and that there is a fit-for-purpose enforcement mechanism, such as a global arbitration body, to address breaches,” he added. 

Bangladesh players suffer with payment issues in BPL

The case is not restricted to just the foreign players, but the local players in the Bangladesh Premier League too are suffering from the payment drought. Star Bangladesh pacer, Taskin Ahmed had joked after the match that he hoped the cheques which were issued hours before the match, wouldn't bounce like the pitch. Coming back to the foreign players' concern, Moffat added that despite being helpful to several players in the past, the issues refuse to budge and are harming the sport itself.

"We've assisted a number of players globally to take collective action in the past, but it shouldn't come to that. The game is not currently capable of solving transnational issues like this at the moment and that needs to change if it wants to continue to claim to be a leading global sport in 2025," the Chief executive of WCA concluded.