The Pakistan Cricket Board on Saturday (November 10) announced that the agreement which gave franchise rights of Multan Sultans PSL team to the Schon Group has been terminated.

A joint statement released by PCB and Schon Properties Broker LLC revealed that all the rights in respect of the sixth PSL team have reverted back to the board owing to agreement termination.

According to a report in Dawn, the statement read: “The termination was brought about due to the former franchisee’s inability to meet its financial obligations under the agreement.”

Dubai-based Schon Group had secured the Multan franchise for an eight-year contract worth $5.2 million (per annum) in a tender held last year, exceeding Karachi Kings as the most expensive franchise.

The PCB statement confirms that the fourth edition of PSL will go ahead as planned with six teams and the same number of matches.

"The board shall take complete responsibility of all player and coach contracts," it said, adding that pending further updates, the team will be referred to as “The Sixth Team” of PSL.

The team selection for the Sixth Team at the player draft scheduled for November 20 will be done by the PCB itself, according to the statement.

A public tender process will then be started to grant repackaged rights of the team, the board has stated.

"The rights holder would have the option of choosing the sixth franchise city and name," said PCB.

PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani said the termination of the agreement was unfortunate, before adding that it was necessary that the contract obligations are abided by.

“While this is an unfortunate turn of events, we have to ensure strict adherence to contractual obligations for the well-being of PSL. We wish Schon Group well with their future endeavours,” Mani was quoted as saying by Dawn.

“I want to reassure our partners... that the Pakistan Super League will take place as planned," he added.

The fourth edition of the PSL is scheduled to be played in UAE and Pakistan from February 14, 2019.

(With inputs from Dawn)