ISLAMABAD: A privately organized cricket league in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir collapsed mid-tournament this week after its organizers allegedly fled Srinagar, leaving behind unpaid hotel bills, stranded players and officials, according to a police report lodged at Rajbagh Police Station.
The "Indian Heaven Premier League (IHPL)," promoted as one of the region’s biggest cricketing events, began on October 25 at Bakshi Stadium with eight teams and international names, including West Indies batsman Chris Gayle and New Zealand’s Jesse Ryder.
However, the event drew minimal public attendance, with only a few hundred spectators in stands built to seat tens of thousands.
On Friday night, the tournament’s Indian organizers, identified in the First Information Report (FIR) as Parminder Singh and Ashudhani from the Punjab-based Yuva Society, allegedly left the venue and hotels without settling dues.
“We have not received any payment. The organisers are missing, and we have been stranded here,” English umpire Mellisa Juniper told police while seeking assistance. Hotel management had reportedly locked players and match officials inside the premises after unpaid bills surpassed $57,000.
“The league had to finished early,” she told local Kashmiri media outlets. “League management is nowhere to be seen.”
Juniper contacted the British High Commission in New Delhi, after which a temporary arrangement was made allowing foreign players and staff to leave, but no outstanding payments were cleared.
The final, scheduled for November 8, was cancelled, and streaming service FanCode marked all remaining matches as “abandoned.”
Police, on the other hand, have registered a case of “cheating and criminal breach of trust” and dispatched teams to Chandigarh and Delhi to trace the accused organizers.
The Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council sought to distance itself from the controversy. Council Secretary Nuzhat Gul stated the venue had been rented out in a standard commercial arrangement and “the council had no role in organizing or managing the event.”
Local cricketers, who had hoped the tournament would provide exposure and opportunity, expressed frustration at being left unpaid and misled. The organizers’ website has since gone offline, displaying only a single message: “Get ready, something cool is coming!”
The incident has added to growing concerns about privately run sports events in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, where political instability, heavy securitization, and lack of regulatory oversight continue to undermine professional sporting development.
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