The organisers of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) have stated that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is asking for a fee of $25,000 (INR 23.73 lakh) per player to permit Pakistani players to take part in the league. The NPL 2026 is set to be played from October 26 to November 21
As reported by Cricinfo, the PCB has not yet issued No-Objection Certificates (NoCs) to the players, and some of those who had already received NoCs have been informed that their permission is now on ‘hold’.
Pakistan’s T20 captain Sahibzada Farhan, Haider Ali, Hunain Shah, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Hasan Ali and Usama Mir are the Pakistani players set to participate in the NPL 2026 tournament.
Several Pakistan players, who are set to feature in the tournament, are already in Kathmandu, the city where the matches are scheduled to take place. It is understood that others who were preparing to travel have postponed their plans until the matter is settled.
The report stated that it was unable to independently verify the NPL organizers’ claim regarding the monetary demand. Nevertheless, this is not the first time that such an issue has been raised.
Previously, franchise owners in the USA league Major League Cricket (MLC) had voiced similar concerns about the PCB's alleged demand of $25,000 per player for issuing NoCs. As per local reports from that time, the board did not reveal the fee during recruitment and only communicated the demand once replacing the player was no longer feasible.
The report further alleged that the PCB was the only cricket board demanding such compensation in the MLC and that no publicly available policy set out these charges. The matter led franchise owners to contact PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, with some referring to the practice as ‘extortion’.
Haris Rauf, who represented the San Francisco Unicorns, was the only Pakistani player in the MLC that season, with the franchise agreeing to pay the fee.
The PCB and the Pakistani players have been at odds about the NoCs for overseas leagues. Mohsin Naqvi’s PCB and the players seemingly came to a solution when the PCB announced a new contract system that included a special category for T20 specialists, who don’t need NOCs. However, such contracts have yet to be distributed.
(Cricinfo report)
