GLT20 PAY SETTLEMENT

CSA, players opt for mediation in GLT20 pay settlement

by Tristan Holme & Luke Alfred • Last updated on

FICA and SACA have been in negotiations for the past few weeks but have failed to arrive at an agreement © Agencies

Cricket South Africa is heading for mediation with the 144 players it contracted for the Twenty20 Global League after failing to agree on a settlement package.

Negotiations over compensation have been running for more than three weeks, with Tony Irish, the chief executive of both the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) and the South African Cricketers' Association (SACA), representing the local and foreign players who had signed lucrative contracts for a tournament that was postponed less than four weeks before it was due to begin.

With those discussions failing to yield an outcome, both sides resolved at a meeting on Thursday (November 9) that mediation was the best way forward. "We agreed to go to mediation on it, and I think that's the appropriate process to follow," Irish told Cricbuzz. "You negotiate, and if you haven't reached a settlement then it's normal to go to a mediation process. It's a responsible process and it often happens where there is a big negotiation."

The current stand-off has in part been created by the players' willingness not to push for the full value of their contracts, which would have cost CSA more than $10 million. With CSA having already incurred significant losses on a tournament that will not happen until at least next November, there has been recognition by the players of the need to seek a deal that is good for cricket.

However by making that concession, the negotiation has entered into a grey area in which the two sides have different ideas of what would be agreeable. "There are a lot of compromises that need to be made on both sides. But what we want is a fair outcome, and that's what mediation is about," said Irish.

While Irish said that the process for appointing a mediator remained an "internal matter" for the moment, he added that CSA and the players have committed to following it "as soon as possible".

The delay is unlikely to quell the simmering discontent among players, many of whom are privately angry about the manner in which CSA bungled the new league. However CSA's willingness to enter mediation should prevent more drastic action being taken, with suggestions this week that players could refuse to take part in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge if the compensation issue is not settled. "Strike action may have been bandied around but it's not something that we want to be thinking about," said Irish.

CSA are also negotiating with the coaches that were contracted for the T20GL, who are being represented by the South African Professional Sports Coaches Association (SAPSCA). The organisation was only recently formed and does not have a Memorandum of Understanding with CSA, which has put the coaches in a different position to the players.

The situation is complicated by the fact that not all of the players are in the same boat. Some, such as Titans coach Mark Boucher, had provision in their contracts to do freelance T20 work, while others, such as Lions coach Geoffrey Toyana and the Dolphins' Grant Morgan, did not.

Nevertheless, the association is representing both the local coaches who had been promised a role in the T20GL, and foreign coaches - such as Stephen Fleming - who were contracted. "We feel that if there is going to be compensation for the players, then it's only right that there is compensation of some kind for the coaches and coaching staff," a SAPSCA official told Cricbuzz.

Discussions with CSA continue following a meeting at CSA's offices on Thursday. Formal recognition for the union is the next step, with compensation discussions likely to follow in an environment that has been described by one insider as "amiable".

© Cricbuzz