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The Pakistan players have threatened to move out from sponsorship promotions and not sport logos on their World Cup jerseys after The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) failure to clear the payments of the players.
As per reports in Cricket Pakistan, the players have not received their payments of match fees for the last four months. With the World Cup drawing closer, the players are now not willing to display sponsors’ logos on their shirts. The younger players especially are struggling with finances after the board’s incompatibility to clear the payments.
The discussion of players central contracts with the board has not yielded positive results as yet. Having not received payments for the last four months, this seems to be a major issue ahead of an event like the World Cup.
Pakistan Players Deny Promoting Sponsorship Logos In World Cup
“We are willing to represent Pakistan for free, but our question is why we should promote sponsors’ logos that are affiliated with the board. Similarly, we may decline to participate in promotional activities and other events. During the World Cup, we won’t engage in ICC’s commercial promotions and activities either” said a Pakistan cricketer on the conditions of anonymity.
According to inside sources, the proposed contract structure offered an impressive monthly retainer fee of PKR 4.5 million to top cricketers across all three formats. However, the players only get up to 2.2 to 2.3 million after tax deductions which is why are are asking for a hike in payments.
The players are asking the board to share the revenue received by the PCB from the ICC and sponsors. Their argument is based on the revenue sharing model that the PCB gets from the ICC which is approximately 9.8 billion rupees with PSL contracts, sponsorship deals, and bilateral series.
Meanwhile, the money that is divided among the players falls short by one billion rupees, which is 10% less than what the board receives from ICC revenue sharing. The PCB suggests that they are offering a fair deal while the players’ managers or agents are influencing the deal by their indulgence.
The Pakistan players are expected to leave for India next Wednesday to Hyderabad for the ICC World Cup 2023. They play their first game against the Netherlands on October 6.
