Karachi: A T20 cricket tournament in Uganda stirred the air, a few days ago, when about two dozen Pakistan players boycotted the event for non-payment.
Saeed Ajmal, Imran Khan, Yasir Hameed, Hasan Raza, Mohammad Khalid and other Pakistan players were to participate in the Afro T20 league.
Promoters of the tournament failed to fulfill their obligations however the Uganda Cricket Association (UCA), while distancing itself from the event, vowed to fight for the deprived players.
Talking to this correspondent, the chief executive officer of the Uganda Cricket, Justin Ligyalingi was of the opinion that the Uganda Cricket Association (UCA) was only responsible for providing local players and the stadium, while rest of the aspects were to be taken care of by league’s promoters.
“The promoters gave UCA conditions to provide ground and local players and also asked us to approach the ICC for permission. Bilateral agreements, obtaining NOC from players’ home boards, financial matters, air travel, accommodation etc were promoters’ responsibility”, Ligyalingi said.
“We did our part by acquiring the official nod from the ICC”, Ligyalingi added.
He also pointed out that the list of players, provided by the promoters earlier, was different from the bunch reached Uganda to take part in the Afro T20. Later, he said, the ICC also refused to approve the additional players.
Terming the episode unfortunate, the UCA chief executive officer vowed to go all-out to get the deprived played compensated for their losses.
“The UCA is trying to peruse through certain authorities to ensure that promoters meet their financial obligations to players”, UCA chief executive said
One of the four promoters of Afro T20 is from Uganda while the rest are from India, Australia and Kenya.
“We have sent letters to ICC and relevant cricket boards to explain them about circumstances surrounded this tournament and where the fault lied”, Ligyalingi said.
“It was a learning curve for us as well and we will surely do a much better job next time around”, Ligyalingi concluded.