Rajshahi promise to pay local players after training boycott

FE Team | Published: January 16, 2025 21:18:45

Bangladesh Premier League franchise Durbar Rajshahi have promised to pay their local players on Thursday, a day after the players boycotted training in Chattogram to protest the non-payment of fees by the franchise. Jayed Ahmed, the operations in-charge of Rajshahi, said in a late-night video statement on Wednesday that they spoke with Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Faruque Ahmed and assured him that the unpaid dues would be cleared.
Bangladesh Premier League franchises are supposed to pay 50 per cent of a player's total payment before the start of the tournament, 25 per cent during the tournament and the rest of the 25 per cent after the tournament is over. Rajshahi, however, didn't pay the local players their first installment even two weeks into the tournament, which began on December 30.
After the players' demonstration, BCB chief Faruque held a meeting with his board of directors. He also spoke to the Rajshahi owner Shafique Rahman, captain Anamul Haque and other cricketers.
"There's no doubt that they will receive payment on January 16," Jayed said. "We express regret at not being able to make the payments on time. There's no denying the fact. This shouldn't have happened. The management has decided to pay 25 per cent payment in cash. We will pay another 25 per cent in checks.
"Our owner spoke to the BCB president on the phone. I met him in person. We had a cordial conversation. He wanted to understand the situation. We expressed our regret for the payment delay. We promised him that we will make the payments tomorrow."
Jayed said some of the cheques bounced because the bank couldn't clear the payment without confirming with Shafique on the phone.
"You will remember that the day our owner's wife went to the ground, she got hit by a ball, she suffered a fracture. She was taken to Bangkok for treatment. Our owner was with her. We had given the cheque beforehand".