No PSL franchise deposits guarantee money as deadline expires

LAHORE: All the franchises of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) did not deposit the bank guarantee money for the next edition of the league, to be held in 2021, as the last date of Nov 10 expired on Tuesday.

It is the second time that the franchises did not deposit the guarantee money as earlier they had missed the last deadline for the same in September after expressing their reservations over the old financial model. Later, they moved the Lahore High Court on the contentious issue. The LHC then referred back the case to the PCB to sort out the matter after having a meeting with the franchises owners and warned that no action against the franchises be taken for missing the deadline of depositing the guarantee money.

The owner of the franchises, who were expecting a meeting with the PCB Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the PCB on Tuesday to get a briefing over the new financial model, will apparently have to wait a few days more for the meeting now since the PCB has been busy in its back-to-back meetings of the Board of Governors in Lahore on Monday and Tuesday.

However, when contacted, the PCB media department said no such meeting was held and when asked if the PCB would take any action against the franchises for not depositing the guarantee money, the PCB’s reply was that no decision has been made in this regard as yet.

It may be mentioned here that the franchises’ owners had lodged strong complaints that while they were suffering huge losses in the PSL, the PCB was making profit. A new financial model was presented to the franchises and a meeting to discuss the same was scheduled for Tuesday but it has been delayed.

There are reports that the PCB is even ready to resale the franchises if the new financial model is not be accepted by the owners. The PCB expects higher prices for each franchise as now the PSL has become a successful brand of the country. There are also reports that the franchises may again move higher courts in case the PCB fails to accept their demands.