Sylhet Sixers, the franchise of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) confirmed their participation in the cash-rich tournament’s next four-year cycle, having solved their payment dispute with the BPL Governing Council (GC), report BSS.
Sixers participation in the BPL was in doubt after they failed to clear around 70 percent of their participation fee in the last season but the franchise put water on speculation by sorting out the matter. The series meetings in the BPL T20 between its Governing Council and franchises came to an end with the meeting with Sylhet on Saturday.
“We have sorted out our payment [dispute] and looking forward to take part in the upcoming cycle,” Sylhet Sixers CEO Yasir Obaid said here on Saturday at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. “We spoke of the grounds and match officials. We also spoke about the revenue like majority of the teams. We are now to write a written proposal to the BCB which will not only mention revenue signing but also of direct signing of the players, players’ retention policy for this year and years to follow,” said Yasir.
“What we basically want is continuity and a sustainable BPL model. The franchises spend a lot to run the teams and it will be quite a difficult job to run the team for the next four years. But we are all working together to make this entire tournament successful like it has been in the past seasons. Going ahead it is important to have a fixed schedule given we have the FTP till 2023. BCB should now be able to let us know when the tournament can be held in the coming years.
When BPL clashes with other tournaments, it becomes difficult for us to plan and also get good players,” the Sylhet official added. Majority of the franchises in the meetings demanded continuity of same rules from the last season in regards to the players. Yasir echoed similar sentiment to that of the majority of the franchises.
BPL GC’s meeting held meeting with every franchisees after they announced their decision of revamping rules and regulations and started new four-year cycle, making all previous signings invalid. The BPL GC will again sit for a common meeting with the franchises and draft the agreement to complete the renewal procedure with the franchises. Amongst the seven franchises from the last season, only Chittagong is in need of new owners after DBL Group decided to discontinue in the tournament. The seventh edition of the BPL T20 is scheduled to start December 6 this year and have its players’ draft or auction by end of September or early October.