The legal course taken jointly by the Pakistan Super League franchisees has pushed the Pakistan Cricket Board on the backfoot. Under pressure to settle the dispute well in time to complete the remaining PSL games next month, the PCB has called a meeting with the six team owners to settle the dispute out of court.
The PCB has called the much-awaited meeting with the meeting on October 7 to amicably settle the dispute.
SportzFront has reliably learnt that the franchisees had agreed to withdraw their petition, filed in the Lahore High Court.
Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi has, according to Pakistan daily The Dawn, has disposed of off the petition after the PSL called the franchisees for a meeting on October 7 to amicably resolve the dispute. The PCB has also assured that no action will be taken against the franchisees till October 9. It indicates that the franchisees can again move the court if the parties fail to arrive at an understanding during the October 7 meeting.
PCB Chief Operating Officer Salman Naseer in a video message has confirmed that the board had called a meeting with the franchises. The franchises had assured the PCB that they would clear all their dues of the 2019-20 edition of the PSL as soon as possible, he added.
Salman said that it was unfortunate that the affairs of the PSL went to the court of law, instead of being solved between the two parties amicably.
The franchisees had declined to clear the dues of the PCB unless the board agreed to rework the PSL revenue model. The team owners had claimed that under the present revenue model PCB has made billions of rupees from the PSL whereas the franchisees have been incurring heavy losses year on year.
The PCB has reportedly contended that the revenue model gives franchisees enough opportunities to generate revenues. The losses are due to the franchisees’ failure to monetise the opportunities.