Logo no-go as Sascoc ‘ guns for Cricket SA ’

Sports confederation demands that flag be removed from badge

‘ Sascoc is making a real pain of itself — it is really throwing its weight around ’

THE national flag is the subject of a showdown between Cricket South Africa and the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee.

Sascoc is not happy that the national cricket team wears a combination of the flag and the king protea badge (pictured right). It wants the badge to stand alone on the left breast, as it does on the uniforms of other sporting codes.

But Cricket SA said the crest was an important part of its international identity. It is, however, said to be reluctant to antagonise Sascoc, which has the power to ban teams from representing South Africa and is said by some to be gunning for cricket.

Senior cricket figures said they believed Sascoc was using what appeared to be a trivial issue to parade its power.

The South African cricket team wore the protea badge on the left breast for the first time in a test on its tour to Sri Lanka in August 1993. The Springboks and Bafana Bafana have reserved that space solely for the protea since 2009. They sport other symbols on the right breast.

“Our issue is that we don’t have a unique identity; Bafana have the two soccer balls and rugby has the Springbok,” said Cricket SA acting chief executive Naasei Appiah.

“We have created so much of our brand around the symbol and it will be difficult to change it. We can probably take the flag off replica shirts, but we feel that our teams are identified around the world by the flag. It also helps to promote South Africa as a country.”

Appiah said Cricket SA was aware that it needed to tread carefully on the issue because “our right to represent South Africa is as a result of us being members of Sascoc”.

Tubby Reddy, Sascoc’s chief executive, said there was no room for negotiation. “The regulation is that the protea badge is the symbol of the country’s sports movement and must occupy the left breast of the jersey or jacket. It doesn’t allow for a combination logo.”

Safa sources said the body paid Sascoc R100 000 a year in royalties to use the emblem, and two years ago the sports ministry repaid more than R600 000 that had been demanded from Cricket SA for the same reason. An independent investigation found that the government and its agencies did not own the relevant intellectual property rights.

That was one of Cricket SA’s few victories over South Africa’s sports authorities.

Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula instituted Judge Christopher Nicholson’s inquiry into the cricket bonus scandal and Sascoc signed off on his recommendations last year, including the provision that half of Cricket SA’s directors should be independent. But Sascoc vetoed that plan and Mbalula did nothing to stop it. A watereddown independent component — five independent directors and seven non-independent — has since been installed.

“Sascoc has it in for cricket,” said one highly placed administrator, who declined to be named for fear of reprisal. “They see the game as being vulnerable. They want to use this to show Sascoc’s strength to all the other federations.”

Another veteran official said: “Sascoc is making a real pain of itself — it is really throwing its weight around.”