PCB terminates Multan Sultans franchise on account of non-payment

With the Pakistan Super League 2019 a few months away, the Pakistan Cricket Board made a huge decision. They terminated the contract of Multan Sultans owing to non-payment of their dues. The franchise failed to submit its bank guarantee — worth $5.2 million — for the fourth edition of PSL despite timely reminders from the board.

Multan Sultans made their debut in the PSL this year. While they failed to make it to the playoffs, the team featured some famous players. The likes of Shoaib Malik, Kumar Sangakkara, Kieron Pollard, Umar Gul and Ahmad Shehzad. With just 3 days for retention and 10 days before the draft, this is a huge development.

However, in such an instance, the team wouldn’t be discarded. The PCB now stands with two objectives related to the franchise ahead of the upcoming PSL. They have a viable option of selling the franchise to a new owner or rebidding of the team. This may well be a lengthy process for the board.

According to a report on cricketpakistan.pk, the other option which is quite likely to happen is the Pakistan board managing the franchise themselves. This will also postpone the bidding session to after the fourth season of PSL. The name of the franchise in any of the above mention options remains intact. It’s only the current owners who have to move.

Schon Properties which owns Multan Sultans put up a winning bid of $41.6 million last year. They went on to pay $5.2 million a season for eight seasons. This made them the most expensive franchise in the PSL. However, recently they were also on the news for seizure of their properties.

Apparently, the Dubai Land Department seized property, land and an Escrow account registered to Schon Properties. It was also involved in a loan default in Pakistan and faced allegations of involvement in a financial scam.

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