PCB and Abu Dhabi T10 settle NOC row, freeing 16 Pakistan players

The Pakistan Cricket Board has settled its No Objection Certificate dispute with the Abu Dhabi T10 organisers. That clears 16 Pakistan players to appear in the 10-over tournament. It starts on Saturday 7 November. The board had been asking for 10,000 US dollars per player. It will not get that figure.

The 16 were picked in the draft on 30 September by five of the competition's six franchises. Their NOC applications went in soon afterwards, according to ESPNcricinfo. The per head demand only surfaced in the week before the tournament.

Terms of the settlement

Nukta reports a one off payment in return for issuing the certificates. The sum was not disclosed. Nukta puts it below 10,000 dollars a head. Geo News, cited by Cricexec and Samaa, puts the package at up to 200,000 dollars in compensation and facilities. The two accounts differ. Neither side has published a figure.

The non cash element is more specific. Pakistan cricketers get access to the Abu Dhabi Cricket and Sports Hub for the next 12 months. That covers training and match facilities at a venue the national side already uses for neutral fixtures.

The sixteen drafted names

Nukta lists the full draft intake. It is a broad cross section rather than a fringe group.

• Seam and pace: Naseem Shah, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Irshad, Akif Javed, Ali Raza
• Spin and all round: Shadab Khan, Sufyan Moqeem, Faheem Ashraf, Abbas Afridi, Khushdil Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed
• Batting and keeping: Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Khawaja Nafay

A demand that landed late

Timing drove the row. Franchises had already drafted, budgeted and in several cases marketed these players. A fee introduced days before the first ball lands on squads that cannot easily be rebuilt. One franchise official, quoted by PTI through Cricexec, criticised the lateness of the demand.

The organisers pushed back hard. Earlier in the week one report had them refusing to pay at all and telling players to cover the fee themselves. That position did not hold. Confirmation that individual certificates have actually been issued has not yet been published.

Release fees as a revenue line

The principle at issue is not new. Boards lose players to overseas leagues through most of the calendar and recover little for it. Charging for release turns a scheduling headache into income. Cricexec polled global cricket executives and reported that 75 per cent back fees for national boards when players join overseas leagues.

Practice is thinner than sentiment. Most boards still issue certificates free, or trade them for broadcast and fixture favours that never appear in accounts. A published tariff would change how franchises model squad cost. It would also give players a number to argue about.

Abu Dhabi now has its Pakistani contingent. The next draft will show whether the franchises price this risk in.