Pakistan may have to wait another year before unveiling its own big-money franchise Twenty20 league.
The likely delay also ends the UAE’s hopes of staging a second high-profile Twenty20 event within a year, after successfully hosting part of the 2014 Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) still hopes to launch the Pakistan Super League (PSL) this winter, almost certainly in the UAE, but senior officials acknowledge that it may not happen.
This weekend the board was due to open financial bids from two parties who want the rights to run the PSL for the next 15 years. But the PCB has decided to delay the opening of the bids by 10 days, to August 18.
Ostensibly, the board asked the two bidders – the global consumer electronics group, Haier (Pakistan), and Aman Foundation, a Pakistani charitable trust – for more evidence of their financial robustness.
But officials involved in Haier’s bid told The National they suspect the PCB is buying time to ensure the Aman Foundation gets the contract.
The PCB has set up a nine-member committee, headed by former board chief executive and renowned broadcaster Chishty Mujahid, to look at the bids.
One committee member, however, played down concerns of favouritism and told The National more documentation has been sought from both companies because the board is being cautious about the awarding of league rights.
Financial statements and audited accounts of both companies, the committee official said, were “not sound enough”. In actual fact, the board is eager to draw out the backers behind both bids.
Aman Foundation, for instance, is owned by Arif Naqvi, founder of the Abraaj Group, which is among the world’s leading private-equity investors.
The PCB would prefer Naqvi to be at the front end of the bid, not a non-profit charitable trust which has, on paper, no assets.
Similarly, Haier’s bid is a joint one, with JW International and Ruba International, two subsidiary companies they created. The PCB is uncomfortable dealing with the subsidiaries and wants Haier Pakistan to front the bid.
In both cases, the PCB wants to secure enough guarantees to ensure they do not suffer losses, in case the owner pulls out from the PSL. Given global trends, that is not an outlandish concern.
Haier feels the documentation provided is already enough. Evidence of financial health should be clear, their officials said, from the fact that they deposited a fee of US$3 million (Dh11m) to take part in the bidding process.
The board’s caution, said one official, stems from not wanting to go the way of leagues in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The former has not taken place since the first event was staged and the latter has been plagued by corruption and financial mismanagement. Even the Caribbean Premier League underwent early financial hiccups.
These leagues, as well as the PSL, are based on different ownership models. The IPL is owned and run by the Indian board.
These leagues are sold to an outside party, with the boards choosing to maximise their revenues from it in different ways.
The PCB plans to lease the PSL – which will have five franchise teams to begin – for 15 years and is contracted to receive a fixed sum every year. It will additionally claim 20 per cent of whatever profit the series makes each season.
Unlike other leagues, the PCB plans to keep greater control over the running; they will have three officials on a governing council, provide anti-corruption cover, ensure payments for players and control umpiring and referee appointments.
The PCB has been working toward the PSL since 2009, but momentum has built only in the past few years.
They were close to launching in March 2013 in Pakistan, only to postpone it indefinitely.
Given the board’s history of disputatious TV rights deals and limited time left on the 2014 calendar, a launch this winter looks logistically difficult. Whenever it does happen, it will almost certainly be in the UAE: both bidders’ plans have the UAE as the host, as the PCB awards points for venues closest to Pakistan’s time zones.
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at SprtNationalUAE
