ECB Threaten to Pull County Teams from Champions League Twenty20

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has threatened to stop its county teams from competing in this year’s Champions League Twenty20, hosted in India. unless the organisers of the event pay them the participation fees in advance.

The ECB insists that the two participant counties will have to receive the money to cover their costs from the BCCI before travelling to India for the tournament in September, a report in the Daily Telegraph stated. 

The ECB’s statement came after many of the participating teams in the first two CLT20 tournaments have alleged that they have either not received their payment on time or in full. 

Somerset and Sussex played in the inaugural CLT20 in India in 2009.

“The payment was late but was paid eventually, within about five months, and it was paid in full less about 20 per cent Indian government tax,” said Richard Gould, who was Somerset’s chief executive when they participated in CLT20 in 2009.

The CLT20 is currently allotted a window in ICC’s Future Tours Programme which schedules international cricket, unlike the Indian Premier League (IPL) which is regarded as a domestic competition. 

The third edition of the tournament begins in Hyderabad on September 19 with the qualification matches.