AGENCIES, LONDON: The Federation of International Cricketers' Association (FICA) is threatening legal action against the Masters Champions League (MCL), a T20 tournament for retired players, over non-payment of dues following its inaugural season earlier this year.
The MCL was intended to be staged over the next two years as well, but with FICA now threatening litigation on behalf of up to 50 players over what they term "the systematic non-payment of players," and questioning the integrity of the tournaments organisers, the MCL could turn out to be a one-off event.
Confirming the players' intention to sue the organisers, GM Sports whose parent company is chaired by Zafar Shah, for unpaid fees, Tony Irish, the executive chairman of FICA, also called for the formation of "an international dispute resolution body and contract enforcement mechanism in cricket."
"It's pretty obvious the organisers of the MCL have lost credibility," Irish told ESPNcricinfo. "The failure to honour contracts sends a strong message. It is not a straightforward process to bring legal action, but we ensured there were proper player contracts in place and we are looking to coordinate a class action on behalf of 40 or 50 players.
"We have given the organisers several deadlines and these have not been met. If they want to hold an event next year, they have a lot of ground to make-up. I think players will look at what happened in the first year and draw their own conclusions.
"Despite several undertakings from Mr Shah that outstanding player payments would be made, under a payment plan proposed by MCL, many players have still not received