Owais Shah anger at lack of BPL payment

The issue of player payments at the Bangladesh Premier League has cropped up again this year after Owais Shah complained he hasn't yet received the first instalment (25 percent) of his $75,000 paycheck.

Shah, who plays for Dhaka Gladiators, received the remittance slip from the BCB but the amount hasn't been credited into his account. ESPNcricinfo has also been told that Shah is just one of many players not to have been paid.

"I have received the remittance slip via email but nothing has arrived in the last four days," Shah said. "I don't know where the money is, and it is a pretty embarrassing situation."

The BCB sent the remittance slip on January 24, but said they didn't receive signed players' agreement papers for any of Gladiators' overseas players in time. "Without the player agreement papers, it is not possible for the BCB to process bank transfer of fees to accounts of local players and international remittance for overseas player payment," a BCB statement said.

This year, the BCB has asked all franchises to send payments to the board, which would then be forwarded to the players. The deadline for the first instalment of 25%, which should have been paid before the start of the tournament, was moved from January 7 to January 16-31. The next 25% needs to be paid before the end of the tournament. The remaining amount is supposed to be transferred within six months after the end of the tournament.

Gladiators were the first franchise who paid the BCB 25% of the total players' fees. According to Salim Chowdhury, the Gladiators owner, the BCB has cashed the pay order of Tk 3 crore ($ 376,900 approx) on January 22 and that the delay is from the board's end.

However, BPL secretary Ismail Haider Mallick has said that it would be Gladiators' fault if Shah decides to leave the tournament. Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country, doesn't remit money without proper contracts, which Mallick says Gladiators have only sent on Tuesday (January 29).

"If Owais Shah doesn't play, it will be completely their fault. I would ask him [Salim Chowdhury] to show the received copy of the agreement papers, which he claims he has made the players sign five times. We can ascertain who's right or wrong.

"They gave us a cheque which is payable from March 14, but they haven't given us a bank guarantee, so his claims sound absurd," Mallick added. "We have tried to help them by giving extra leeway on time, but they haven't paid us the money properly."