Chief Executive Officer of Cricket West Indies, Johnny Grave has said that the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) owes the governing body USD 1.4 million.
Grave was at the time speaking on the Mason and Guest radio programme when he was asked to clear the air on a claim that CPL owed CWI USD 1.7m.
The CEO contended that the figure was valid only for a day which was due to a late payment from the league.
“I think probably from our June management accounts that would have been the figure,” Grave reckoned while revealing, “CPL pays licensing fees on a quarterly basis so that figure was valid for 24 hours.”
He explained:” I think we received their quarterly licensing fee payment a day later than we would normally expect to on the 30th of June, I think we received it on the 1st or 2nd of July.”
Grave cleared up that due to that payment, the figure was reduced by USD 300,000 and the sum owed has been a “historical figure” dating back to 22015 and relating to development fees.
“Obviously once that quarterly fee has been received its down to USD 1.4 million and that has been a historical figure for a while now relating to development fees that were due, $360,000 a year dating back from 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018,” Grave stated.
The CEO indicated that both parties have acknowledged the figure and there is no dispute as they work together to resolve it.
He added, “There is no dispute now in that figure and I think the payment plan has to be changed on the back of COVID-19. We’ve certainly prioritized getting the tournament started and on this year but we are in dialogue with CPL and as I said that figure is not disputed, it’s 1.4 million.” Meanwhile, Grave revealed that they have received payment from CPL for the year.
“We have received over 1 million dollars this year from the CPL towards license fees which are up to date and yes we are working closely with them to ensure that as soon as cash flow permits that debt will be cleared.”
Grave also appeared on the I955 radio on Tuesday but even there he could not give a timeframe as to when the debt would be paid off but admitted that the expectation is that the debt would be significantly reduced and if possible to the effect that it is completely cleared.
The CEO maintained that the priority is to have the tournament pull off but contended that due to COVID-19 and no spectators resulting in no ticket revenue, the tournament will “almost certainly operate at a loss this year.”
Grave disclosed that he has been privy to the accounts of the CPL which revealed the tournament made a profit last year and broke even in 2018.
