Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board is demanding a fee of USD 10,000 to give NOCs for participation in global franchise leagues, which has led to the country’s players being forced out of the Abu Dhabi T10 League beginning Saturday.
Organisers of the league are scrambling to look for replacement players after the PCB sought the fee for every player signed for the league.
“What surprised us was that while we had applied for NOCs for players for the league back in late September, we only got the demand for the USD 10,000 fee few days back,” an official associated with a franchise in the league said on telephone Thursday.
He said since the league is due to begin from Saturday the franchises are now running from pillar to post to sign replacements for the 14-15 players signed from Pakistan for the league.
“It is very unprofessional even if they (PCB) want to charge a NOC fee they should have given enough time for franchises and management to work out some solution. Their demand came very late,” he continued.
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The PCB has started the process of asking franchises for NOC Fee since last year and recently franchises in the Nepal Premier League also complained that they were asked to pay USD 25,000 fee for obtaining Pakistani players for the league.
Only two Pakistani players — Hussain Talat and Jahandad Khan — were able to appear in the Nepal League although initially franchises had signed up around 8-10 Pakistani players for the league.
“Few players even reached there on their own expenses but returned without playing after the NOC issue remained unresolved,” one source close to an affected player said.
The PCB has also been demanding USD 25,000 NOC fee per player from other leagues like the Major League in USA and International T20 in Emirates.
Sources close to the players say they are not happy with the situation.
“Yes, players who appear in the domestic tournaments get paid fees and allowances, but given not all of us are going to be selected for the national teams, these smaller leagues are our lifeline to earn more,” one first-class player said on Thursday.
A source in the PCB explained that, given the high demand Pakistani players, the NOC fee is fully justified.
“This is why the issue of charging a NOC fee has been floated,” he added.
A player, who declined to be named, disagreed with the Board’s assessment.
“They are a number of smaller leagues happening around the world, and this NOC condition means we will suffer because these smaller leagues can’t afford to pay the PCB NOC fees and also our fees,” he said.
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