Afghanistan Cricket Board to postpone APL Season 2; cites misconduct
On October 5th 2018, the Afghanistan Cricket Board became the latest to join the countries having a domestic T20 league of its own. With the national team winning hearts all over the globe, the Afghanistan Premier League was set to be groundbreaking.
But in a shocking turn of events, The Afghanistan Cricket Board is prematurely calling off the APL, Season 2 and that poses a serious financial and legal threat for the Cricket Board of over 10 million US$ ( 78,2500000 AFN ).
There were already speculations about the termination of contract with an Indian company, Snixer Sports by current CEO, Mr. Lutfullah, without a consultation with other members of the Board.
Now if the team owners and stakeholders in the APL sue ACB, the latter might not be able to finance the litigation. According to sources with ACB, Snixer Sports has already sent a legal notice to ACB over their action to which the board is yet to reply.
According to reports, there were allegations of misconduct by few ACB officials and stakeholders in the previous league and the same is under inquiry with ICC. This, in turn can prove fatal for exiting player contracts as well and for their cricketing future.
One of the senior officials from Snixer Sports blamed the Afghanistan Cricket Board and said,
“We fail to understand how ACB can be reckless enough to terminate the league without any rationale and over unfounded attributions. Our talks are going on and it is our understanding that the same had been done with procedural discrepancies. We have suffered huge losses owing to such illegal termination and we shall take appropriate legal action to recover the same if our current talks don’t succeed. Afghanistan and its cricket loving people have been looking forward to the league and it had been a huge disappointment for them as well. “.
Cricket means a lot to the people of Afghanistan and over recent years, the country has produced many talented players like Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Asghar Afghan.
With the ACB still not over the Mohammad Shahzad issue at the World Cup, ACB’s liability can dent a permanent damage into the country’s finances and repute in international arena and cricket in Particular.
Also see – World Test Championship points table