ILT20 auction in Dubai on October 1
More than 800 players from 20 countries have registered for the ILT20 Season 5 auction, with around 200 expected to make the final shortlist
The ILT20 Season 5 Player Auction will be held in Dubai on October 1 at the ICC Academy indoor facility. More than 800 players from 20 countries have registered for the auction, with the organisers now in the process of shortlisting them to around 200.
There was initially some confusion over the date of the auction, but the organisers have now confirmed it will be on October 1.
Here is a lowdown on the auction for the six franchises.
Auction rules
Each franchise will have a purse of USD 1,300,000 besides the unutilised funds from the USD 700,000 that was available for direct signings and retentions.
At the end of the auction, each franchise must have spent a minimum of USD 1.5 million and a maximum of USD 2 million (excluding a Wildcard player that may be added after the auction).
Each franchise must have a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 23 players. Within this, there must be a minimum of 11 players from ICC Full Member countries (at least four of which must be from Afghanistan and at least one of which must be from Ireland), a minimum of four players from the UAE, a minimum of one player from Kuwait, a minimum of one player from Saudi Arabia and at least one further player from ICC Associate countries (excluding the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia).
Player registration
The minimum base price for all players is USD 10,000. Players may also have a base price of USD 40,000 or USD 80,000.
The player registrations were completed between July and September (12).
Player Right to Match
Franchises will each have four Rights to Match to use during the auction:
One for a Full member player that played for that Franchise in Season 4 (including Afghanistan and Ireland)
One for an Associate member player that played for that Franchise in Season 4
One for a UAE player that played for that Franchise in Season 4, or was part of their Development Squad in the 2026 ILT20 Development Tournament
One for a Kuwait or Saudi player that played for that Franchise in Season 4
Replacement players
If a player is injured, receives an international call-up or does not receive an NOC, they may be replaced at any time until the end of the league phase of Season 5. Once the tournament support period has commenced, approvals for replacement players must be granted by the ILT20 Technical Committee.
Replacement of mandatory players (i.e. UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait. Afghanistan or Ireland) must come from the pool of players that registered for the auction. Replacement players from other nations do not have to have registered in the auction.
