ICC Plans Stricter Curbs On T20 Leagues, Proposes Four-Overseas-Player Cap And Tougher Anti-Corruption Rules

The International Cricket Council is planning tighter control over T20 franchise leagues worldwide, a move that could alter how tournaments such as the UAE’s ILT20 and Major League Cricket in the United States operate. The proposed regulatory changes cover league sanctions, overseas player participation, sponsorship and anti-corruption rules.

The recommendations come from the ICC’s franchise leagues review group and will go before board heads and chief executives at the governing body’s quarterly meetings in Bali this weekend. If approved, they could widen the ICC’s oversight of franchise cricket well beyond the current framework.

At the centre of the plan is a tougher approach to who can play, who can sponsor leagues and how those leagues are approved. That matters for newer competitions that have built their model around overseas stars, including ILT20 and MLC.

Player Limit Proposal

The sharpest proposed change is on team composition. The review group wants the ICC to enforce existing overseas player restrictions more strictly by limiting teams to four overseas players in a playing XI.

ILT20 and MLC would feel the squeeze most. The ICC gave both leagues exemptions when it brought in player-capping rules in 2023. ILT20 can field as many as nine overseas players in its XI, with at least one from an Associate Member nation, while MLC allows six.

A cap of four would push both leagues to depend more on players developed in the UAE and the United States. That could change their competitive balance and commercial appeal, because both leagues have sold themselves partly on the strength of imported talent.

The Indian links are extensive. Five of the six ILT20 franchises have owners tied to IPL or WPL teams, while four MLC franchises sit within IPL ownership groups.

Sanctioning Powers Expanded

The ICC also wants more authority over league approvals. Under the current system, Full Members can sanction domestic leagues in their own territories, while leagues run by Associate Members need extra ICC approval.

The proposal would let the ICC review or audit sanctions granted by Full Member boards. It could step in if a Full Member fails to meet its obligations while approving a league.

The governing body could go further. It would be able to reject an application or withdraw an existing sanction if serious integrity concerns emerge.

The review group says the current approval system is uneven and needs tighter rules before any league gets domestic sanction. "At the moment, the Regulations do not provide any detailed conditions which must be satisfied by a domestic league and different approaches are therefore taken in the various Member territories," the paper says. "A more detailed structure should be put in place (through the Regulations) setting out the conditions that a franchise league would need to satisfy before it could obtain a domestic sanction."

Betting And Integrity

Betting sponsorship is another target. The review group has recommended restricting deals involving betting companies or their surrogate brands, especially where those arrangements could enable betting in countries where gambling is illegal

The proposal spells out the concern in direct terms. "This would address the threat posed by the growth of illegal betting (namely betting on unregulated markets or in countries where betting is illegal). Such sponsorship exposes host Members to the risk of facilitating illegal betting in cricket, which carries the potential for increased corruption, and raises clear ethical and governance questions for the sport," the proposal states.

The bar gets higher for riskier events. For competitions seen as carrying a high corruption risk, the ICC’s ACU could be engaged, with the league organisers paying the costs on a not-for-profit basis. If adequate safeguards cannot be put in place, the application could be rejected.

The group has also proposed a fee for sanctioning franchise leagues. That money could help fund due diligence checks and corruption investigations. The recommendations come amid wider concerns over integrity issues, ownership changes and payment disputes across the growing franchise cricket circuit.

Review Group Agenda

Tamim Iqbal heads the review group. The former Bangladesh opener, who is now Bangladesh Cricket Board president, is joined by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould, Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg and BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia.

The group has also flagged solidarity payments for further discussion. These are payments made by leagues to the cricket boards of overseas players who take part in their competitions. Right now, the amount is negotiated between the boards involved, a process that has at times led to disputes.

The paper suggests exploring a uniform fee across leagues and players, possibly set as a fixed percentage. It also raises the status of legends leagues, pointing to concerns over tournaments featuring retired players and possible overlap with approved cricket involving active players.

The review group also wants to examine whether ICC members should be capped on the number of franchise leagues they host. It says the aim is to protect international cricket’s role in developing and promoting the sport worldwide. The ICC’s chief executives’ committee will consider the proposals and pass the relevant ones to the ICC Board for approval, which could lead to a major rewrite of T20 franchise rules.