Reports: PSL franchises call for emergency meeting as they seek dues from PCB

Zaka Ashraf. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The Pakistan government appointed Zaka Ashraf as the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), last week. Since he has taken charge, the 70-year-old has had his hands full. Reports emerged that he would hold a meeting with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary, Jay Shah, to facilitate confidence-building between the two countries so that they could travel to each other’s countries without any worries.

However, amid these developments, there have been a plethora of problems plaguing Pakistan Cricket. And things are only getting worse for the new PCB chief. In the latest development, the franchises of the Pakistan Super League have decided to hold an emergency meeting while Ashraf is away.

If reports are to be believed, the PSL franchises called for an emergency meeting on July 13, Thursday, as their dues have remained uncleared by the country’s apex cricket governing body to date. This would come as a huge setback for PCB, who tend to project PSL as being of the same level as the Indian Premier League, if not better.

PCB proudly claimed that they had generated 5 billion PKR (Rs 147 crore) in revenue. However, the share from this substantial amount has not been handed to the six PSL franchises. As per the contract, there is a ‘5-95’ profit-sharing model between PCB and the PSL teams. In other words, the PSL franchises will earn 95% of the profit share, and 5% will be kept by PCB.

As per a spokesperson of Cricket Pakistan, the event brought in a total of PKR 5.62 billion (Rs 166 crore approx). The overall franchises’ share is PKR 5,046,776,989 (Rs 149 crore approx), while PCB’s portion is PKR 582,534,480 ( Rs 17 crore approx).

Franchise owners are not happy with how PSL is being conducted

Furthermore, the report states that the franchise owners are not pleased with how PCB is running the PSL. They wanted to have a conversation with Zaka Ashraf to convey their issues. However, that didn’t come to fruition as he is currently in South Africa for ICC meetings.

The six franchises are hoping to have a meeting with Ashraf once he returns to Pakistan. As per the agreement, 50% of the profit should have reached the franchises by July 5. Consequently, a meeting with the franchises’ chief financial officers (CFOs) has been scheduled for Thursday, July 13. As claimed by the sources, the PSL franchises have shown their disappointment over the current revenue model the board operates through. Hence, they want the new chief to take stock of the matters and sort it out at the earliest possible.