Sports
Foreigners in the Pokhara Premier League have been playing without work permits
All foreigners, except for Indians, require a permit from the Labour Department, but none of them applied for one.Prarambha Dahal
The two-week-long Pokhara Premier League, which features a host of foreigners on the cricket pitch, will end on Saturday. The league includes international players, from Canadians to Pakistanis, who play for Expert Dhangadi, Biratnagar Titans and Chitwan Rhinos.
But none of the 16 foreigners playing in the league obtained a work permit from the Department of Labour, a mandatory provision for any foreigner, besides Indians, working in Nepal.
While 10 of the 16 are Indians who don’t require a work permit, the remaining six—two Canadians and one Pakistani, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates national—do, according to Chapter 6 of the Labour Act 2017 and the Chapter 3 of the Labour Rules 2018. Foreign employees require a permit from the Department of Labour and Occupational Safety at the Labour Ministry. None of them has applied for a work permit, according to the Labour Department.
According to Ramesh Silwal, member secretary of the National Sports Council, the organisers of the premier league, which began on December 15 will end on Saturday, December 28—had said that they would arrange for the work permits themselves. Silwal also owns the Kathmandu Golden Warriors which plays in the Pokhara Premier League with two Indian players.
“I had told the organisers that they and the players would be answerable if they are participating in the tournament without a permit,” said Silwal.
Labour Department officials, who asked not to be identified, said that a complaint had been received through the Hello Sarkar twitter account, the grievance redress system of the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, on December 20 last year. The tweet had questioned the inconsistency in requiring work permits for foreigners playing professional football and professional cricket. Foreign nationals who coach and play in the All Nepal Football Association’s Martyr’s Memorial ‘A’ Division League all have work permits.
After receiving the complaint, the department had corresponded with the Prime Minister’s Office, the Labour Ministry, the Sports Ministry and the Cricket Association of Nepal, requesting them to make necessary arrangements for the players to receive their work permits before being featured in any cricket league. The department had also requested the names and addresses of the entities organising the league along with the details of the participating clubs.
According to department officials, they have not received a response even a year after the initial grievance was filed.
The organisers, however, say that they are not aware of labour regulations and do not think work permits are necessary since the cricket tournament only takes place for a short duration.
“The kind of cricket tournaments we are beginning to see in Nepal are short term in nature,” said Chhumbi Lama, managing director of Queens Event Management, which organises the Pokhara Premier League. “Acquiring work permits would make more sense if the tournament was lengthy and large transactions were involved.”
According to Minister for Sports Jagat Bahadur Sunar Bishwakarma, all organisers and associations must follow the law of the land.
“The participation of foreigners in our domestic leagues is of importance as it contributes to the development of sports in Nepal,” said Bishwakarma. “But it must be done by following the law.”
Former Nepal cricket team captain Paras Khadka agreed with Bishwakarma, saying that leagues like these are important in the development of the game but organising and regulating bodies must make their policies clear.
“As leagues help domestic cricketers earn their living, proper policies must be formulated to help them grow,” said Khadka. “The presence of foreign players in these domestic leagues not only helps our cricketing sector but also has a spillover effect on our economy.”