Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) says that they cannot intevene in the affairs of Cricket South Africa (CSA) unless there is a ‘‘specific complaint’’ from any of the their board members about any form of government interference in their operations. The CSA is plunged into a deep crisis as the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) has dismantled the country’s cricketing board and executive, which includes their former captain Graeme Smith as Director of Cricket, in a ruling on September 8.
Asked if ICC will step into it as the high profile cricket body lost their second major sponsorship on Tuesday, informed souces told Gulf News that the world governing body is monitoring the situation and can step in only if there is a complaint from any of the 17 Board members on any charges of ‘‘interference or malfunctioning.’’ Incidentally, the ICC had disbanded the Zimbawean cricket body for more than a year on charges of government interference during the regime of erstwhile chairman Sashank Manohar before they were reinstated last year.
The SASOC, it is reliably learnt, has sent a letter to Imran Khwaja, the interim chairman of ICC, accusing the disbanded executive of CSA of malfunctioning which has resulted in the resignation of Chris Nenzani, it’s immediate president, acting CEO Jacques Faul and four independent members of the board.
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The letter further accused the CSA of ‘‘not disclosing’’ the forensic report of a probe commissioned by the Members’ Council of CSA to look into the possible misconduct on part of it’s now dismissed CEO Thabang Moroe. They informed the ICC about their formation of a task force to independently look into the affairs of the board and clarified that they are just going by the law in the country and there is no government interference of any regard.
SASCOC is recognised by the National Sports and Recreation Act of 1998. It is the only sports confederation in South Africa, and all sporting bodies in South Africa operate under its guidelines.
Last week, CSA however contended that it does not agree with the resolution taken by the SASCOC and is taking legal advice after its board and senior executives were instructed to step aside by the SASCOC.
In an official statement released to the media, sponsors Momentum has made it clear that it will not renew its sponsorship of international ODIs, the franchise one-day cup, the national club championships, the under-13, under-15, and under-17 school’s weeks, and development initiatives including the Momentum Friendship Games and the eKasi Challenge.
They will, however, continue to ssupport the national women’s team until 2023 and they have also indicated keeping pressure on CSA to come out of the administrative crisis.
CSA now has a rocky path to look forward to as Momentum has become the second major sponsor to cut ties with the board as Standard Bank opted to not continue their support of the Test team in December last year.
As per the guidelines issued by ICC, it is clearly stated that the cricket board’s matters must be administered autonomously and there is no scope for government interference.
Article 2.4 of the ICC constitution says: “The Member must manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government (or other public or quasi-public body) interference in its governance, regulation and/or administration of Cricket in its Cricket Playing Country (including in operational matters, in the selection and management of teams, and in the appointment of coaches or support personnel).”
