Dubai, September 22: The DP World ILT20 Season 5 Player Auction will be held at the ICC Academy indoor facility in Dubai on Thursday, October 1, with all six franchises looking to complete their squads.
Season 5 runs from November 21 to December 20, 2026.
Purse and spending limits
Each franchise has USD 1,300,000 to spend at the auction, plus anything left from the USD 700,000 available for direct signings and retentions. The remaining balances will be announced before the auction.
By the end of the auction each side must have spent at least USD 1.5 million and no more than USD 2 million, not counting a Wildcard player who may be added afterwards.
Squad quotas
Squads must have between 18 and 23 players. They must include at least 11 players from ICC Full Member countries, with at least four from Afghanistan and one from Ireland. Each side also needs at least four UAE players, one from Kuwait, one from Saudi Arabia and one more from another ICC Associate country.
Base prices
Base prices are USD 10,000, 40,000 or 80,000. Afghanistan and Ireland players need to be internationally capped, or to have played in the ILT20 before, to set a base price of USD 40,000, and need 100 or more international caps across formats for USD 80,000. All UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia players have a base price of USD 10,000. Registrations closed on September 12.
How the bidding works
Players will be grouped into sets of six to ten by status and speciality and drawn at random within each set. Bids rise by USD 2,000 up to USD 50,000, by USD 5,000 between USD 50,000 and USD 100,000, and by USD 10,000 after that.
Once all sets are done, franchises with room in their squads can ask for up to eight players from the Accelerated Set to be put forward.
Right to Match
Each franchise has four optional Rights to Match: one each for a Full Member player, an Associate player and a Kuwait or Saudi player who played for it in Season 4, and one for a UAE player who played for it in Season 4 or was in its squad for the 2026 ILT20 Development Tournament.
Players who are injured, called up for international duty or refused an NOC can be replaced until the end of the league phase. Replacements for mandatory quota players must come from the auction pool.
Source: DP World ILT20.
