 "Oman cricketers accuse their board of ruining careers, lives by withholding ICC prize money: 'Our lives have been upended'")
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.
“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.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsICC’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.
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.
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