MCL officials play down concerns over late payment for star players

Barnaby Read 03:46 03/02/2016
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  • Some players for both the Leo Lions (l) and Sagittarius Strikers (bottom r) ave yet to be paid.

    The MCL launched to great fanfare in Dubai last week, with legends including Sourav Ganguly, Saqlain Mushtaq and Kumar Sangakkara among those competing in the UAE.

    However, Sport360 understands that a number of Leo Lions and Sagittarius Strikers players have been left unhappy after promised payments failed to materialise.

    A source close to the Leo Lions franchise confirmed that players have privately discussed their participation in the tournament, with some players considering their future association with the MCL if payments are not received this week.

    Rumblings of a potential boycott of the tournament appear a little premature, however, with officials of both teams insisting the issue will be addressed imminently.

    Contracts for the vast majority of players stated that payment would be made prior to the tournament’s start, but for a number of the MCL’s star-studded cast that promise has yet to be fulfilled.

    It is believed that conversations between players’ representatives, the franchise owners and the league are ongoing, with the MCL moving ahead with its matches in Sharjah on Wednesday as planned.

    A source within the Sagittarius Strikers franchise confirmed that approximately half of the players were yet to be paid, but insisted the tournament’s future was not in jeopardy.

    “We don’t see any issues from our team and a lot of team owners get along – players’ concerns are being sorted,” the source told Sport360. “Tomorrow we should all be paid and our players are more than happy.

    “There were some issues with bank accounts – notably an absence of IBAN numbers for English players – but we are confident that all will be sorted by tomorrow’s games.

    “Once you see all the players out on that pitch it will be clear and if there was an issue then they would not have been training like they have been to get ready for the match.”

    Former UAE captain, and Strikers batsman, Khurram Khan supported the notion that banking details may have led to his team’s late payment as his own fee has been cleared with it moving from one UAE bank to another.

    He also agreed that there was no issue between players in the camp and that the Strikers were pressing ahead as planned.

    One team that has had no issue with payment is the Gemini Arabians, with star wicket-keeper batsman Sangakkara saying that the matter was an “internal issue with the league”, but one that had not been a problem with his franchise.

    “If there are any issues of this manner, the organisers will be addressing it very, very quickly,” said Sangakkara.

    “I’m with the Gemini Arabians, we’ve been looked after fantastically well. I’ve been made to feel very, very welcome and all issues have been addressed. In our team, other than maybe a t-shirt getting a day late, there’s been absolutely no issues for us in our franchise.”

    And when asked directly by Sport360 if there had been any delays in payments within Gemini, Sangakkara replied: “None at all at the moment, no. In our franchise there has been nothing and I’m not in a position to talk about another franchise because I wouldn’t know.”

    Another side with no issues is the Capricorn Commanders, who told Sport360 that as of Tuesday their team was paid in full. Officials at the remaining franchises – the Libra Legends and Virgo Super Kings – also confirmed that they had no issues and that all players were paid in full.

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