World Cup: They wanted the money they deserved from the cricket board. But that seemed to be yesterday. They lost their jobs from the board for asking for money. Their careers are over. Many have even had to leave the country. It is now unknown what they will do in a different country, in a different profession. Yet a year ago they were the stars of the ICC T20 World Cup team.
This unfortunate incident happened to the cricketers of the Oman national team. The Middle Eastern Gulf country participated in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Even though they did not win the match, the teams ranked 13th to 20th in the ICC received 225,000 US dollars for participating in the tournament.
According to the ICC rules, the prize money is supposed to reach the players through the relevant board within 21 days of the end of the tournament. However, even though almost 1 year has passed since the World Cup, the Oman Cricket Board has not yet paid the money to the players.
And while asking for this money, the cricketers of the Oman national team have been in trouble. A report by ESPN Cricinfo has revealed the news of their tragic fate. Oman team opener Kashyap Prajapati said, ‘Due to this incident, our lives, careers, everything has been thrown into disarray. We have been dropped from the team, our contracts have been cancelled, some have been forced to leave Oman. The board has not paid the money, and the ICC is not even able to confirm whether we will get it!’
Players from this ICC-affiliated country claim that they did not know that there was any prize money allocated for participating in the World Cup in 2021. They first learned about this from players from foreign teams after playing in the 2024 World Cup.
Many have been dropped from the squad due to complaints against the board. Some players were asked to leave the hotel after refusing to play in the Emerging Asia Cup.
Fayyaz Butt, who played for Oman, said, “This incident has ended my career. Now I am not in Oman, I have no job. I am finished as a player.”
Since there is no union for cricketers in Oman, they sought help from the international cricketers’ organization, the World Cricketers’ Association. The organization said that not only Oman, but also several other associate member boards have not paid the players in full. Some have paid between 20% and 70%.
