Major cricket sponsor issues ultimatum to CSA
Calls for the removal of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) board grew louder after key sponsors Momentum issued an ultimatum to the embattled but defiant organisation on Thursday and demanded that it gets its act together.
The financial services group said it had met with the CSA leadership and outlined “very specific governance and reputational requirements” that the organisation had to deliver on if it is to restore public trust and corporate confidence.
Chief among Momentum’s demands to the crisis-riddled CSA are the resignation of the members of the board and the institution of a forensic audit into its affairs.
Momentum set a deadline of April 30 2020 for the CSA board to step aside or the financial services group will “reconsider” its sponsorship of the game.
“We will be holding the CSA board accountable to get its house in order‚” Momentum head of sponsorships Carel Bosman said on Thursday.
“Failing such remedy‚ Momentum will have to reconsider its sponsorship agreement at the end of the current season.”
Bosman said he is confident that CSA will “act decisively so that cricket in SA can move forward.”
Momentum Metropolitan deputy CEO Jeanette Marais said she hoped CSA would do the right thing.
The right thing Marais referred to‚ among others‚ is the immediate resignation of the entire board.
Alternatively‚ Marais said‚ Momentum would also accept the “resignation of the current president [Chris Nenzani] and vice-president [Beresford Williams] in order to address the leadership crisis at CSA”.
Momentum indicated that their concerns are “in light of recent revelations and reports of lack of good governance at Cricket South Africa.”
The sponsorship deal between Momentum and CSA is essentially rooted in supporting the body’s developmental structures and talent pipelines with the Momentum Schools Weeks for U13‚ U15 and U17 teams.
It also includes the Momentum Friendship Games which are localised around CSA’s developmental hubs in rural areas or where cricket is not available at local schools.
Other demands that Momentum made to CSA are:
The implementation of a four-year going concern assessment that would be conducted by independent auditors
The appointment of a lead independent director to the board with on-field cricket experience
Active and transparent engagement with the SA Cricketers’ Association.
The reeling CSA board has defiantly maintained that it receives majority support from member affiliates.
But it is gradually disintegrating, with four of its 12 members resigning in a space of a week as the organisation lurched from one crisis to the next.
Major sponsor Standard Bank announced last week that it would not renew its sponsorship with CSA when it comes to an end in 2020, and another sponsor‚ cooking oil manufacturer Sunfoil‚ also told the organisation to get its house in order.