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NDTV
7 hours ago
- Sport
- NDTV
Oman Cricket Mess Triggers Storm, Players Yet To Be Paid T20 World Cup Prize Money
Oman Cricket has come under major scrutiny for refusing to distribute the prize money from the 2024 T20 World Cup to its players. In fact, the board has completely fazed out the 15 players that took part in the tournament, which was held in the US and West Indies. Oman finished bottom of Group C, also consisting the likes of England and Australia, and the board received a $225,000 (approx. Rs 1,93,01,737) prize money from the International Cricket Council (ICC) for successfully making it to the group stage of the tournament. As per ICC policy, a board must evenly distribute the prize money to its players within 21 days of the end of the event. While the ICC has confirmed that the prize money was paid to Oman, the players are yet to receive their shares, despite the tournament concluding almost a year back. According to the World Cricketers' Association (WCA), multiple participating boards from that tournament have yet to pay the full prize money to their players. Oman Cricket remains the only board yet to pay a single penny to its players. To make matters worst, the players have been completely sidelined by Oman Cricket for taking a stand for themselves. India-born batter Kashyap Prajapati, who has played 37 ODIs and 47 T20Is for Oman, is currently stuck in the US, hoping to secure a future for himself. "Our lives have been upended over this issue; we've lost our spot in the team, our contracts have been torn up, and we have been forced to leave the country," Prajapati told ESPNcricinfo. "It's just so confusing and we don't understand why the ICC isn't able to ensure we get paid the prize money we have earned, and why there isn't a safe space for us to raise concerns?" he added. Prajapati also revealed that the Oman players never received prize money from the 2021 edition either as they weren't aware of such a thing back then. Pacer Fayyaz Butt has also left the country after his employment visa was revoked. Most of the countries in the Gulf provide visas on the basis of employment. Fayyaz echoed Prajapati's sentiments, and now fears for his future. "It's been a massive loss for my career and professionally," Fayyaz Butt, who across five years played 30 ODIs and 47 T20Is for Oman, told ESPNcricinfo. "I had to leave Oman. I'm not working at the moment, looking for opportunities but our playing careers are over." Despite Oman Cricket's negligence on the matter, ICC is "hamstrung by not having a mechanism through which a board can be penalised for such non-payment." Last year, the ICC and WCA had reached an agreement on the policy of prize money for players, covering ten major ICC events in the cycle up to 2027.
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First Post
19 hours ago
- Sport
- First Post
Oman cricketers accuse their board of ruining careers, lives by withholding ICC prize money: 'Our lives have been upended'
Oman cricketers have accused their board of not paying a single penny from the US$ 225,000 prize money that was supposed to be distributed within the squad that had participated in last year's T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean. read more Oman got to rub shoulders with top teams such as Australia and England at last year's T20 World Cup. AFP Several members of the Oman cricket team have accused the country's board of sabotaging their careers and lives by refusing to pay them their share of prize money from ICC events, shining the spotlight on corruption in boards, especially in Associate Nations. According to a report on ESPNCricinfo, not a single member of the Oman squad that had participated in last year's T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean is yet to receive a single penny from the US$ 225,000 prize money that they had won by virtue of finishing between the 13th and 20th positions at the end of the tournament. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Our lives have been upended over this issue; we've lost our spot in the team, our contracts have been torn up, and we have been forced to leave the country. It's just so confusing and we don't understand why the ICC isn't able to ensure we get paid the prize money we have earned, and why there isn't a safe space for us to raise concerns?' top-order batter Kashyap Prajapati, who had featured in the 2021 and 2024 T20 World Cups and is currently in the US, told ESPNCricinfo. 'Our playing careers are over' Oman Cricket's refusal to distribute the prize money to their players has, in turn, resulted in nearly every member of their T20 World Cup squad leaving the team, many of whom have also had to move out of the country due to their employment visas getting revoked as a result of being out of work. 'It's been a massive loss for my career and professionally. I had to leave Oman. I'm not working at the moment, looking for opportunities but our playing careers are over,' Pakistani-born Fayyaz Butt, who played 30 ODIs and 47 T20Is for Oman, said. What makes the pay dispute in Oman cricket even more heart-breaking is the fact that the players would not have been aware about their board withholding their prize money had they not come across articles mentioning ICC's record prize money of US$ 11.25 million for last year's T20 World Cup, of which winners India took home the lion's share of US$ 2.45 million . The Oman team reportedly had not been received the prize money for their participation in the 2021 T20 World Cup, which they had co-hosted with the United Arab Emirates, either. ICC's rules state that member boards whose teams are participating in a global event must distribute the prize money to the squad within 21 days of the event, with the global body later confirming that they had indeed transferred the funds to Oman Cricket. The Omani cricketers tried raising the issue during a T20 triangular series in Canada where Nepal were the third team in action. Nepal and Canada too had participated in the T20 World Cup but got their share of the prize money after facing resistance from their boards. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Prajapati and the rest of the team decided to take a unified stand during the T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup that was hosted by Oman in October, which resulted in a mass exodus after a board official threatened them with expulsion if they did not withdraw their demand for prize money and simply focused on their game. 'The issue reflects poorly on the whole sport' The World Cricketers Association, which claims that Associate nations typically pay their players 20 to 70 per cent of the prize money that they earn from ICC events, has described the situation as one that 'reflects poorly on the whole sport'. 'In a sport that is trying to retain players in international cricket and ensure its future and relevance, it's disappointing to see more non-payment issues, including in pinnacle ICC events held almost a year ago. 'We understand ICC management have continued to chase the boards on this, but the issue reflects poorly on the whole sport and adds to the widespread issues in domestic leagues,' Tom Moffat, the WCA CEO was quoted by the website as saying.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
‘We've lost our spot in the team, our contracts have been torn up,' Oman cricketer Kashyap Prajapati
Oman, though, did not win a game in last year's T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA, and the Caribbean has shown a lot of promise for the future. However, the 15-man squad did not receive the cash prize of 225,000 US dollars announced by the ICC for teams participating. According to the ICC the amount has been disbursed to the Oman Cricket Board but has not gone to the players yet. 'Our lives have been upended over this issue; we've lost our spot in the team, our contracts have been torn up, and we have been forced to leave the country,' Kashyap Prajapati told ESPNcricinfo. 'It's just so confusing and we don't understand why the ICC isn't able to ensure we get paid the prize money we have earned, and why there isn't a safe space for us to raise concerns?' 'It's been a massive loss for my career and professionally,' said another player Fayyaz Butt, 'I had to leave Oman. I'm not working at the moment, looking for opportunities but our playing careers are over.' The issue was raised to the World Cricketers Association (WCA) when Oman was playing a tri-series in Canada. 'In a sport that is trying to retain players in international cricket and ensure its future and relevance, it's disappointing to see more non-payment issues, including in pinnacle ICC events held almost a year ago,' Tom Moffat, the WCA CEO, told ESPNcricinfo. 'We understand ICC management have continued to chase the boards on this, but the issue reflects poorly on the whole sport and adds to the widespread issues in domestic leagues. 'There are simple solutions to this problem and whilst the majority of boards do the right thing, it's frustrating that some are still not. It's also extremely concerning if some players are unable to raise their legitimate issues without fear of being punished for doing so,' he added.
