BPL auction on Dec 20

The second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), which is scheduled to begin on January 17 and hold the players' auction on December 20, will go ahead despite the fact of non-payment to players in the league's first edition.

In a press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium yesterday, Afzalur Rahman Sinha, chairman of the BPL's Governing Council, stated that the committee wanted 'to get the ball rolling' since the board wouldn't get a free slot to host the competition later in the season.

He further claimed that while the irregularities with regard to payment of the foreign players have been resolved, payment to all the local players though hasn't yet been completed. The board has provided the franchises with yet another deadline -- December 30 -- to clear the dues.

"We will definitely solve the disputes with the franchises, but as of now the tournament has to go on," said Sinha. "We have been given the responsibility [to organise the tournament] just around 10-12 days back and that time is not enough to organise a league," he added.

Meanwhile, the league might also witness an additional team this year. "Event management company Game On is handling the new team's auction. We will probably get it finalised tomorrow [Saturday]. As the seventh team we will bring on board Rangpur," said IH Mallick, member-secretary of the council.

In another change in the rules of the league, the governing council has decided that no employee of the board would be allowed to be a part of the teams. "There can't be any direct involvement, the coach, board's physio or even the selectors; none can be a part of any team," informed Sinha.

Furthermore, members of the governing council stated that official agreements between the franchises and the board would be signed by December 20. "We didn't have any agreement with the franchisees in the previous edition," said Mallick.

"There will be a few guidelines regarding players' payment in the agreement. For instance, after the auction and before the tournament begins, 25 per cent of the money have to be paid. Before the last match, another 25 per cent should be paid and the rest of the money will have to be paid within six months from the end of the last match," he added.

It was also stated that the payment of the players in the second edition would be done through the board. "The franchises will pay us and we will pay the players, unlike last time," informed Sinha.

President of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Nazmul Hassan Papon, who was also present in the press conference, said that while the financial disputes haven't seen a clear cut solution, majority of the problems have been resolved.

"One of the biggest problems during the previous edition was that Game On, the franchises and the players didn't have much to do with the BCB. Whether people agreed to the rules or not, whether the players got paid or not, we didn't have any control over anything since there weren't any written agreements between the parties. We didn't have a clear cut agreement and therefore couldn't take any action," said Papon.

The president however stated that such problems would not recur, once the board has a written agreement with the franchises. "If any party doesn't go by the rules this time, we can always take a action against them," said Papon