South African Olympic body takes control of cricket amid crisis
South Africa's Olympic body has taken full control of cricket in the country due to a prevailing crisis. Reportedly, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) has ordered Cricket South Africa's board and senior executives, including acting CEO Kugandrie Govender, to step down. It is understood that the move could put the future of South African cricket team in doubt.
Why did the Olympic body resort to this measure?
The SASCOC took the decision unanimously at a board meeting on Tuesday due to "many instances of maladministration and malpractice," at CSA which "has brought cricket into disrepute". Also, the committee has taken action following at least nine months of crisis in CSA, dating back to December 2019, when former CEO Thabang Moroe was suspended on the account of "serious misconduct".
SASCOC to take full charge
Along with acting CEO Govender, company secretary Welsh Gwaza and acting chief commercial officer Thamie Mthembu will no longer be involved in the day-to-day running of CSA. As a result, starting this week, there will be no in charge of CSA's operational running except SASCOC. Notably, SASCOC governs the relationship between state and sport federations, and has the authority to put CSA under administration.
Many instances of malpractice have occurred since December 2019: SASCOC
The SASCOC recently wrote a letter to CSA, clarifying the same. "The CSA board and those senior executives who serve ex-officio on the board (the company secretary, the acting CEO, the CFO and the COO) are directed to step aside from the administration of CSA on full pay," the letter read. "Many instances of maladministration and malpractice have occurred since December 2019."
Another excerpt from the letter
"There can be no doubt that this has caused cricket to lose the trust and confidence of members of the public, stakeholders, sponsors and the players represented by SACA [the South African Cricketers' Association]. All this has brought cricket into disrepute," it added.
The plight of cricket in South Africa
All of this may mar the plight of cricket in South Africa with no fixtures finalized as yet. As the lockdown continues, the cricket board hasn't released any list of competitive matches. Although a 44-man High Performance training squad was announced in June, further details are yet to be ascertained. However, the participation of South African players in IPL will not be affected anyhow.
