BCCI Has Not Paid Team India Stars From Last 10 Months: Report

The BCCI has reportedly not paid some of its contracted cricketers their dues for close to 10 months now. The world’s richest cricket board has 27 contracted players divided into four categories (A+, A, B and C). The players in A+ category get INR 7 crore while those in A, B and C pocked 5 crore, 3 crore and 1 crore annually.

Some of the players, however, are yet to receive their first of the quarterly installments due since October last year. The board has also not disbursed match fees for the two Tests, nine ODIs and eight T20 games that the national team has played since December 2019, according to the Indian Express.

The total retainer amount due for contracted cricketers annually is Rs 99 crore, with the payment divided on grading. According to the last balance sheet made public by the BCCI, it had cash and bank balance of Rs 5,526 crore, as of March 2018, including Rs 2,992 crore in fixed deposits. In April 2018, the BCCI signed a five-year broadcasting deal with Star TV worth Rs 6,138.1 crore.

But despite facing no cash crunch at the moment, the BCCI has not paid eight of the contracted cricketers. The news outlet claimed that the players have confirmed the same, stating that they have not received their dues in 10 months.

One of the India players, who has not received his dues, said the board usually asks the players to raise invoices for contract dues every three months.

“But this time, we haven’t heard from them since the new list of contracted cricketers was announced. The BCCI used to pay the contract money in four installments but now we don’t know when the payment will come. There is no clarity. Last month, we were asked to raise the invoice for the New Zealand tour in February. The money hasn’t been credited yet,” said the cricketer.

Reason behind the delay:

According to sources in BCCI, one of the reasons behind the delay is the uncertainty at the helm. The board has not had a Chief Financial officer since December, and a Chief Executive Officer and General Manager (Cricket Operations) since last month.

“These crucial administrative positions haven’t been filled after the contract of the previous functionaries weren’t extended by the present dispensation,” sources were quoted as saying by the news outlet.

The tenure of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah has ended too as per the board’s Constitution. The board has approached the Supreme Court for annulling the “cooling off” clause in the Constitution so that both can retain their positions.

As per the Lodha reforms, a three-year cooling-off is mandatory after the completion of six years in office – state association and the BCCI combined. Before joining the BCCI, both Ganguly and Shah had served as administrators in state associations.

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