The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) intends to end its partnership with Seven3Sports after many critics amid the inaugural edition of the Nepal T20 League.
Jatin Ahluwalia, the co-founder of Seven3Sports, the commercial and strategic partner of the Nepal T20 League, fled back to India without any contact while the tournament is going on. Ahluwalia allegedly went to India because he didn’t want to pay the money his organization owed to CAN, according to CAN President Chatur Bahadur Chand. “He told us he’s going to India to manage the bank transfer, but it looks like he’s not coming back. This automatically terminates the contract we had between them and us,” says Chand. Meanwhile, Ahluwalia has declined to come back to Nepal, citing security concerns.
CAN and Seven3Sports agreed to an eight-year contract in May 2022. The contract stipulates that Seven3Sports would pay around Rs 330 million to acquire the rights to the Nepal T20 League. As per the agreement, CAN should have received around Rs 39 million for the first edition, but it says Seven3Sports only gave it Rs 12 million so far in two instalments.
There was a delay in the match between Kathamndu and Biratnagar a couple of days back as players refused to take the field, citing that they were yet to receive their salaries. The match started two hours later after the meeting on the field between players, officials, CAN member and the tournament’s governing body.
The tournament is facing massive criticism regarding management, ownership and spot-fixing. Spectators have also turned out in very small numbers.
