Delhi: The entry of Pakistani players in Major League Cricket may soon have a big impact. According to media reports, MLC franchise owners may avoid signing Pakistani players in future. The reason for this is not being said to be the political relations between India and Pakistan, but the alleged new policy of the Pakistan Cricket Board and the huge fees being demanded at the last moment.
It has been claimed in the report that PCB is charging huge amount from the franchises in exchange of issuing No Objection Certificate to the players, due to which the team owners are very angry.
According to the report of PakPassion, PCB demands a fee of 25,000 US dollars i.e. about Rs 24 lakh for each player. Let us tell you that NOC is a mandatory document of ICC, without which no player can participate in foreign franchise leagues.
It has also been said in the report that the teams are not informed about this fee in advance. The franchise is told when the option to replace the player has almost been exhausted. For this reason, some team owners have even termed this process as ‘extortion’.
Only fast bowler Haris Rauf from Pakistan is playing in Major League Cricket 2026. He is part of the San Francisco Unicorns. According to the report, his franchise paid the fees demanded by PCB, after which he got NOC.
Charging fees for allowing foreign players to play in franchise leagues is not a new thing. For example, when a foreign player is sold in the IPL, BCCI gives about 10 to 20 percent of his auction amount to the concerned cricket board.
However, the report says that there is no such official rule in MLC. Not only this, PCB is reportedly the only cricket board to demand such additional fees.
According to the report, MLC franchise owners also raised this matter with PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi. He said that it is not appropriate to ask for fees at the last moment without any public policy. However, a reply was reportedly received from the PCB that it is the board’s right to demand this money.
Another big claim has been made in the report. It has been said that even after depositing the fees, the franchisee does not get complete security. If due to some reason the NOC is required again, the PCB can cancel the previously issued NOC and ask for fees again for a new approval.
For this reason, many MLC franchises are considering avoiding signing Pakistani players in future. If this happens, then Pakistan players may have to suffer the biggest loss because the doors to the emerging T20 leagues of the world may be limited for them.
Why might MLC franchises avoid signing Pakistani players?
According to the report, the MLC franchises are angry with the PCB allegedly demanding a fee of $25,000 for the players’ NOC and giving the information about the fee at the last moment.
Have Pakistani players been officially banned in MLC?
Yes. At present no official ban has been imposed on Pakistani players. However, the report claims that MLC franchises unhappy with PCB’s NOC policy may consider not signing him in future.
