Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the South African Cricketers' Association (SACA) have agreed on a 60% payout deal for South African players and a 50% payment to foreign players following the postponement of the T20 Global League, ESPNcricinfo has learned. The payments will be made in three installments between December 2017 and April 2018.
CSA and SACA described the agreement as "amicable," with acting CSA CEO Thabang Moroe underlining the importance of his organisation maintaining solid relationships with its players. "Our players are key stakeholders in the game and are also CSA's most valuable assets, which is why we invest heavily in our development programmes to produce our best possible national side," he said.
A payout is particularly important to the players, especially the locally based South African players who were expecting bigger pay-days than ever before, but those dreams were dashed when the tournament was pushed back to 2018. CSA is currently in the process of working on the organisation of next year's edition but as things stand, the board has yet to secure a broadcaster, which was the major reason the inaugural edition could not take place.
The T20 Global League was due to be played in November-December and CSA had anticipated losses of US$ 25million - amounting to half its cash reserves. The financial model was eventually deemed unsustainable and CSA opted to cut its losses, which will still prove substantial.
The total player bill, which included signed contracts with 138 players (after six withdrew for injury or unavailability reasons), amounted to US $10.8 million. While CSA has been spared sacrificing the full amount, the agreed figures will still cost the board several million, though the exact amount has been adjusted to accommodate for foreign players. Those who signed on with other leagues, such as the BPL, whose NOCs contained limitations on the amount of time they were able to play in the T20 Global League, and those who did not receive NOCs will all be paid less than 50%.
Negotiations have been taking place since late October and the matter was resolved in mediation. "The settlement is both fair and responsible and has been well received by the players," Tony Irish, SACA CEO, said. Irish had previously noted that though players were disappointed about the money they would lose with the tournament being postponed, they were also mindful of not getting into greater financial distress.
Though CSA has cash reserves of over R500 million (approx US$ 37million), the T20 Global League has depleted them severely. CSA has already spent R350 million in stadium upgrades over three years and had designated another R100 million to the organisation and marketing of the GLT20.