BCCI responds to allegations over women's players not being paid for T20 World Cup 2020

The Indian women's cricket team created history at the T20 World Cup 2020 as they reached the final of the tournament for the first time since its inception in 2009. The Women in Blue were dominant throughout the competition, however, they succumbed to the pressure of the final against Australia as the hosts registered a commanding 85-run win to grab a record fifth T20 World Cup.The  Indian women's cricket team, who ended up as runners-up, won a cash prize of US$ 500,000 but multiple reports have claimed that the players have not received the prize money till date.

Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI under scrutiny after news of delay in payments to women's players break out

According to a report by The Telegraph, the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI is yet to hand out the payments of the T20 World Cup 2020 that took place in Australia in February-March last year. The CEO of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, Tom Moffat told The Telegraph that the federation had been made aware of the issue in August 2020, which was then relayed to the International Cricket Council (ICC). Terming the act as 'unacceptable,' Moffat said that the federation encourages players in India to form a players' association for a collective representation in such matters. 

As per the norms, the ICC is responsible for paying the prize money within a week of the tournaments, which is usually directed to the team's governing bodies, in this case, the BCCI. This can be overlooked if in any case, the board asks ICC to pay the players directly. The total prize money awarded to India's women team for finishing second by the ICC is $500,000 which when divided between the 15 players in the squad, amounts to $33,000 each.

Now, a senior BCCI official has opened up on the entire matter and has provided clarification about the delay in payments. While speaking to PTI, the official said that the members of the Indian women's cricket team will be getting the share of their prize money by the end of this week. He added that the transactions have been processed and he is expecting that the players will receive their share very soon.

Speaking about the delay, the official revealed that they received the prize money amount late last year. He further said that the processing of players' payments in BCCI does take around three to four months for all teams (across age groups) and it's not just one payment for women that has been delayed. The official reiterated that whether it's the central contract of the men's team, international match fees, domestic fees of men and women, everything is taking a bit of time because of the prevailing COVID-19 situation in India.

The BCCI official opined that even before the COVID situation worsened, the domestic season would end in March and the complete payments were only cleared by September which is why in this case, one needs to check when did BCCI receive the payments. He further clarified that If the BCCI received the prize money just after the tournament, then it's a delay but the processing does take some time and it's the same for both men and women.

Meanwhile, the India Women will play a one-off Test, three ODIs and as many T20Is against England Women starting next month. Notably, the Test against England will help them prepare for the historic pink-ball Test in Australia which will be played from September 30 to October 3 in Perth. The three India vs England Women ODIs will be played on June June 27, 20 and July 3 whereas the India vs England Women T20I matches will be played on July 9, 11 and 15. The Indian players will also participate in The Hundred 2021 after receiving a NOC from the BCCI.

SOURCE: BCCI.TV