The Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Multan Sultans participated in the fourth edition of the event without depositing the mandatory franchise fee.

According to sources, the Multan Consortium, led by Ali Khan Tareen had won the franchise rights for the ‘Sixth Team’ of HBL PSL, has not paid the annual amount of $6.35 million to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

According to league rules and regulations, every franchise is required to deposit the annual franchise fee before the start of the season.

More than four months have passed, since the final of HBL PSL4 on March 17, but the PCB is still awaiting payment from the Sultans.

Ali Khan Tareen did not reply, when asked about his stance on this situation. Meanwhile team’s General Manager Haider Azhar, who had promised to share franchise’s version on the issue on Monday, failed to respond until late Tuesday.     

‘Entire season of HBL PSL in Pakistan is not practical’

When the PCB was approached on this matter, they neither confirmed nor denied this news by stating: "Multan Sultans is in compliance of their franchise agreement."

PCB had terminated the franchise agreement of the Multan Sultans franchise, previously, before the beginning of the fourth season. The termination was brought about due to the franchisee’s inability to meet its financial obligations under the Agreement.

In the new bidding process, that followed, the PCB had set the reserve price at $5.21 million per annum for a period of seven years. This reserve price had been exceeded by the Ali Tareen-led group. The new owners also decided to continue with the same name for the franchise, that is Multan Sultans.