RCB men yet to get their dues?

Players in the dark after failing to receive first instalment

Some of the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s leading players contracted to the franchise are yet to get the first instalments of their fees for playing in the last edition of the the Indian Premier League.

The list, that includes both Indian and overseas stars, also figures skipper Daniel Vettori’s name.

Australia all-rounder Andrew McDonald is believed to be another player who has not been paid, along with some members of the support staff, according to a report in the ‘ESPNcricinfo’. It’s also believed that swashbuckling West left-hander Indian Chris Gayle, who was the top-scorer in the IPL V, has been paid his contract amount.

Though it is for the first time that RCB have delayed on payments on this scale, the affected players are concerned by the lack of response from franchise officials. Royal Challengers Bangalore are owned by businessman Vijay Mallya through UB Sports Pvt Ltd, a group subsidiary. The players affected include those from India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. “Nobody has come back to us, to let us know what is going on. The people, at the moment, are in the dark,” a player was quoted on condition on anonymity.

According to the agreement signed between the player, the franchise and the IPL, the player receives 15 per cent of his fee for the season by April 1 (before the IPL or early into it), 50 per cent by May 1 (during the IPL or towards its end), 20 per cent after the Champions League T20 and the remaining 15 per cent by December 1. The Royal Challengers so far seem to have failed to meet the schedule, and the Bangalore team has not qualified for this year’s Champions League after failing to finish among the top four IPL teams. The news has come at time when the foreign-recruitment players in the Bangladesh Premier League too have been complaining about non-payment of their dues. A UB Group spokesman, however, denied selling the Royal Challengers stakes to raise funds.
The RCB payment issue coincides with the well-chronicled financial struggle of UB Group, a property of businessman Vijay Mallya, who owns RCB through a subsidary company -- UB Sports Private Limited.