11 Senior Oman Players' Central Contracts Terminated After Prize Money Dispute

After a report emerged earlier this month that the Oman Cricket Board had failed to pay even a single penny of the total US$ 225,000 prize money that its 15-member squad earned from the ICC for the Men's T20 World Cup 2024, the board has confirmed that the prize money will be disbursed to the full squad (squad comprises of players and support staff) by July 2025.

The total amount of USD 225,000 is set to be shared among the full squad, in line with ICC regulations. The decision follows various emergency meetings convened over the last 8 months on this topic, stated the Oman Cricket Board via a press release.

“The board reiterated that the delay in disbursement was procedural, dependent on formal post-event clarifications from the ICC, which are typically received after global tournaments.”

In October 2024, 11 senior players, including then captain Aqib Ilyas and ex-skipper Zeeshan Maqsood, withdrew from national duty hours before Oman’s campaign at the ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup, which was held in Muscat.

“The players had every right to seek clarity, and we were transparent about the timelines involved,” said Oman Cricket Chairman Pankaj Khimji.

“But to walk out at the last moment — just hours before representing the nation — was not only irresponsible, but it was also an insult to the entire team, the coaching staff, the board, and most importantly, the nation they were supposed to serve.”

The contracts of those 11 players were terminated and they have been banned from all national and domestic cricket until further notice. The suspended players were Aqib Ilyas, Zeeshan Maqsood, Ayaan Khan, Kashyap Prajapati, Shoaib Khan, Ahmed Fayyaz Butt, Pratik Athavale, Kaleemullah, Rafiullah, Naseem Khushi, and Khalid Kail.

The Oman Cricket is also not happy with the involvement of the World Cricketers' Association (WCA). “It is evident that the players were heavily influenced and misled by external voices — particularly the WCA — which encouraged them to abandon their duties under the guise of advocacy. What happened was not protest, but provocation,” Khimji said.

“The WCA played an active role in sowing distrust and destabilising the team environment. The players were urged to take a drastic and unjustified stance, despite having my personal assurance that the prize money would be paid in full — regardless of whether they played the Emerging Cup or not. Such interference is unacceptable, and we cannot allow outside entities to manipulate our national team cricketers.”

To avoid future lapses, the Oman Cricket Board has constituted a special internal committee to investigate the communication gap around the prize money and recommend a more robust and transparent structure for tournament-based remunerations and player engagement.

(With inputs from Oman Cricket Board media release)