Zimbabwe cricketers set to battle another financial crisis

HARARE: Zimbabwe’s cricketers are facing a lean Christmas. Not only will they need to get through the festive period with only a portion of the money owed to them, but the domestic players now face almost two months without any cricket after Zimbabwe Cricket ordered a countrywide shutdown to allow preparations for the World Cup qualifiers next year.

For the second month in a row, ZC’s employees have received only half of their monthly salary on time as the organisation continues to battle cash flow issues. While ZC was able to settle the balance of October salaries fairly swiftly when the problem arose at the end of that month, a longer delay is expected this time around.

In a letter sent to all ZC employees on Wednesday (December 6), which Cricbuzz has seen, ZC’s head of human resources Nesta Vaki wrote that “as things stand, ZC is still in a financial predicament and will only receive its next revenue distribution in January 2018. Accordingly, it is highly likely that staff will receive their December 2017 salaries and the balance of the November 2017 salaries in mid January 2018.”

Contacted for comment, ZC managing director Faisal Hasnain confirmed ZC’s financial difficulties are ongoing. “That is a fact of life. We are working through it with all concerned and trying to manage the situation as best we can. It’s about the worst time for us to be in this situation given that it is a time for family. Hopefully by the middle of January, once the ICC distributions come through the situation will stabilise.”

ZC have made positive strides under Hasnain, who was brought in by chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani in April, and deserve some sympathy given the dire financial situation that they have inherited. ZC currently owes various institutions $19m, much of it in high-interest loans, which means that more than $3m a year is diverted towards interest payments.

But that sympathy is thin on the ground in Zimbabwe, where players have also endured delays in match allowances. For domestic players who are on the lower salaries, sourcing kit and even getting to training has become difficult when they have not received the money owed to them.

“The problem is that for the guys on ‘good wickets’, if they get 50% (of their salary) they can still crack on as usual. But for the other coaches and players, that 50% is not enough to cover bills and get them to work every day,” a ZC employee told Cricbuzz.