The Sri Lanka Premier League's Uva Next franchise has paid its players their outstanding fees, having delayed their initial payments for over two weeks. Uva Next owner Tushar Bedi said the players received their payments late last week after the Reserve Bank of India released the money to the franchise. He said the delay had been caused by a late payment by the bank, which the players had been made aware of.
New Zealand allrounder Jacob Oram confirmed receiving the payment, and said the players were largely content with proceedings. "We had a meeting with the owners in Pallekele and it's all been sorted. As of now, it's all up to schedule."
As per SLPL contracts, players were due 25% of their pay when they joined the team in Sri Lanka, a further 25% on the date of their franchise's first match in the tournament, and the remaining 50% due upon commencement of the franchise's final match. Only Uva Next from the seven SLPL franchises had not paid their players on schedule so far, though Bedi said the franchise did compensate the players for the delay by advancing half of their final installment, along with the 50% already owed.
"They've actually received 75% of their pay at present and we've sent proof of payment to the SLC," Bedi said. "We decided to pay a little ahead of schedule in good faith, because of any inconvenience it might have caused."