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LAHORE: Multan Sultans owner Ali Tareen has not received a PSL offer to renew his ownership of the franchise, CRICINFO reported.
The PCB confirmed that renewal offers and updated franchise fees were sent to “all compliant PSL franchises.” A Sultans representative said that they were not among the franchises who received such an offer.
The report said that five franchises have been given the option to extend their ownership for another ten years. While Sultans representatives were invited to meetings about scheduling and operations for the upcoming PSL, they believe they were excluded from meetings involving financial matters.
A PSL representative declined to comment when asked whether the lack of a renewal offer for the Sultans was due to potential non-compliance.
The long-running dispute between the PSL and Tareen became public when Tareen criticised the league ahead of its 10th edition, accusing management of poor transparency and communication. His criticism intensified over the following months, and earlier this year the PSL threatened to blacklist him unless he issued a public apology.
After that threat surfaced, Tareen released a taunting video apology in which he sarcastically apologised for “wanting to make the PSL better,” ending the video by tearing up the notice the PCB had sent him.
It now appears the PCB did not treat that public “apology” as valid. With all franchise rights up for renewal before the next PSL season, each team had the right of first refusal. However, the PCB had made it clear that this applied only to “compliant” franchises—something they believe Tareen failed to meet given his public criticism.
According to a couple of franchises, they now have ten days to respond to their renewal offers. All will need to consider higher annual franchise fees, at least 25% more than their current payments, and likely based on increased valuations.
This year will also see the introduction of two new teams. The PCB has released a list of potential cities: Hyderabad, Sialkot, Muzaffarabad, Faisalabad, Gilgit, and Rawalpindi, from which two will be selected.
The expanded eight-team PSL is scheduled for April and May next year.
