Complicated paperwork delays player payments

There are only ten days to go before the final of the Indian Premier League in Mumbai, but some players - Indian and foreign - are yet to receive their first paycheques, due to a wall of paperwork IPL authorities and franchise officials are trying to clear.

It has been learnt that the IPL and franchise officials have been fielding anxious calls from players who are yet to be paid. Officials that Cricinfo spoke to were hopeful of a speedy resolution to the issue, which stems from the multiple layers of paperwork involved in the procedure.

Franchise officials said they were waiting for the IPL to clear the final set of documents before payments could be released but Sunder Raman, the chief executive of IPL, told Cricinfo that in many cases, the franchises were yet to deliver some of the relevant documents. Both sides agreed teething problems associated with the first-of-its-kind event were to blame for the delay. "Payments can start happening once all the paperwork is sorted out," Raman said.

Apparently, the payment schedule proposed for the 44-day inaugural season starting April 18 was that a player would get paid 15% before the end of April, 50% at the end of the first season, 15% in September before the proposed Champions League, and the final 20% by October or November. The IPL had also requested franchises to clear the dues of those getting less than US$ 100,000 in one go by the end of the tournament.

But Neil Maxwell, the chief executive of Kings XI Punjab, said last week it would take some time for the money to be transferred to the players. "It's a little lengthy process and everyone has to be patient," Maxwell said after the Australian Cricketers' Association first raised the issue.

The amount of paperwork had to be seen to be believed, the sources said. "Some player contracts run into nearly 30 pages, and in this case, we are talking about each player having three or even four agreements to attach along with it - all of them signed and double-checked," they said. "Then there is the problem of sorting out the tax issue regarding foreign players. So you can imagine the kind of paperwork that's been going up and down."

Apparently, each set of documents relating to a single player involved the player's contract with the IPL, his contract with the franchise, and the documents relating to his clearance from his national board. Separately, the players also had to liaise closely with their agents on the various clauses in the contracts and clarifications, especially on those related to sponsorship. "But the relief is that the IPL payments are inclusive of the fee that goes to a player's agent, so that's very clear."

In fact, sources in the IPL said the situation was worse before the tournament started, with the franchises negotiating independently with the players and their agents while the IPL was liaising with the various national boards. It was then the IPL decided that all contracts would be cleared through them, with the entire exercise being co-ordinated by a London-based executive of IMG, the international sports management firm that is associated with setting up the IPL.

"As far as we are concerned, we are clear and up-to-date," Raman said. "It's just a matter of time before all this is sorted out."