Abu Dhabi T10 league: Major transformation ahead of 10th season
What's the story
The Abu Dhabi T10 league, the world's first of its kind, is gearing up for a major transformation as it enters its 10th season. The UAE-based businessman Shaji ul Mulk founded the league in 2017. However, integrity issues have plagued the tournament over the years. In September 2023, eight people associated with one of the franchises were charged with corruption breaches by ICC during an earlier season.
Operational hurdles
Player payment issues and integrity breaches
The Abu Dhabi T10 league has also been marred by player payment issues.
The constant change in franchise ownership has made it difficult to establish a stable identity for the tournament.
Over the years, between six and 10 teams have participated in this league.
Earlier this month, USA player B Akhilesh Reddy was banned for eight years after breaching ICC's anti-corruption code last season.
Ownership transition
The impact of past challenges on Abu Dhabi's brand
The reputation of the league and its track record prompted the Abu Dhabi government to take majority ownership earlier this year, through the Abu Dhabi Cricket and Sports Hub.
Matt Boucher, CEO of the Abu Dhabi Sport Council, acknowledged that past challenges had affected the brand name of Abu Dhabi.
"I do think that a number of challenges occurred in the past where that had an impact on the brand name of Abu Dhabi," Boucher told Cricinfo.
He further said third-party team owners made decisions that had a negative impact on the brand of Abu Dhabi.
Market positioning
Abu Dhabi government aims to create its own event
The Abu Dhabi government also wants to establish its own premier cricket event, similar to the ILT20 in Dubai.
The UAE has hosted high-profile cricket for years, and now Abu Dhabi wants to add cricket into its busy winter sports calendar. This includes an F1 race and the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.
"We want regular team owners, we want long-term contracts, so we don't work in a world where we're on one to two-year rotating agreements and then changing everything from year to year," Boucher said.
Future plans
Bidding process for new team owners underway
The Abu Dhabi government is now in the middle of a bidding process, managed by Deloitte, to find new team owners.
They expect to receive final bids this week.
"The strength of any event is based on longer term contracts, and that's something that we're really focussed on now," Boucher asserted.
Boucher hopes the involvement of the Abu Dhabi government will bring institutional stability that has been lacking so far in the league's history.