By Rohit - February 03, 2025 04:39 PMThe Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2025 has been overshadowed by a significant controversy involving the Durbar Rajshahi franchise. Several of the team's overseas players, including Mohammad Haris (Pakistan), Aftab Alam (Afghanistan), Mark Deyal (West Indies), Ryan Burl (Zimbabwe), and Miguel Cummins (West Indies), have reported non-payment of dues and have found themselves stranded in a Dhaka hotel due to the franchise's failure to provide return flight tickets.
Reports indicate that some players received only 25% of their agreed payments, while others have not been compensated at all. Additionally, the players have not received their daily allowances for the past 11 days.
Durbar Rajshahi is a team in the league that has not given payments to their foreign players or staff.
There was no contact by the owner so the players refused to play, and they had to play with 11 domestic players. Now the owner has arranged tickets for them to go back to their countries.
Now the latest is that they haven't even paid their bus driver. As a consequence, the bus driver has locked every player's cricket kits and refuses to give them until he receives his money.
The situation escalated when the team's owner, Md. Shafiq Rahman, failed to respond to the players' inquiries regarding their pending payments and travel arrangements. This lack of communication left the players in a state of uncertainty and financial distress.
In response to the crisis, Bangladesh's sports adviser, Asif Mahmud, intervened by contacting Rahman and warning of potential legal action if the dues were not settled promptly. Following this intervention, Rahman assured that all outstanding payments would be cleared in three installments: 25% on February 3, another 25% on February 7, and the remaining 50% by February 10. He also committed to providing the players with their return flight tickets.
The Bangladesh government has taken a firm stance on the matter, setting a deadline of February 10 for Durbar Rajshahi to clear all pending payments. Authorities have indicated that failure to meet this deadline will result in legal consequences for the franchise.
This incident has raised broader concerns about the financial management and oversight within the BPL. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has faced criticism for not adequately vetting franchise owners' financial capabilities. Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, member-secretary of the BPL's governing council, acknowledged the oversight, stating, "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."
The controversy has also led to logistical challenges for the team. There have been reports of the team's bus driver locking players' kit bags inside the bus due to unpaid fees, further complicating the situation.
As the February 10 deadline approaches, the cricketing community is closely monitoring the situation, hoping for a swift resolution that ensures players receive their rightful dues and can return home without further complications.
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