Red-faced CSA to probe Lorgat

CRICKET South Africa may establish a formal inquiry into the conduct of its former chief executive Haroon Lorgat regarding the establishment of the T20 Global League after the organisation’s Board of Directors cited a lack of detailed information for its decision to postpone the competition for one year.

The federation’s interim chief executive, Thabang Moroe, said yesterday the Board had not been kept “fully appraised” about preparations for the competition that was due to start on November 3.

Lorgat was very much at the forefront of establishing the league until he “parted ways” with CSA two weeks ago. Following a hastily arranged teleconference yesterday morning, CSA postponed it’s much-hyped T20 tournament until 2018.

“Obviously not all the information that the board needed to have in order for the board to be comfortable to continue with this league up to this stage… that information wasn’t forthcoming and some of it is still not forthcoming,” said Moroe.

Moroe said that the establishment of an inquiry was an option open to the board – “its still early stages,” – but if that occurred he hoped to have it wrapped up within a month.

One area that will require scrutiny is the franchise fee licensing agreements.

“The information that went to EY (the accounting firm tasked with vetting the owners), that they are currently sitting with, then us calling our lawyers and saying ‘have a look at all these agreements in terms of what CSA has entered into’. Was money paid for licence fees? We need to look at the entire picture for us to pass judgement.”

Moroe said the cost implications for going ahead with the tournament had worsened since he said last Friday that the operating model for the event was “watertight.”

Cricket SA were set to lose between R82 million and R109 million every year for the next five years if it went ahead with the tournament.

“If you have a model that says I need ‘x-amount from broadcasters and x-amount from sponsorship’ if any of it changes, it automatically forces you to go back and relook at your model.

“You can’t keep reworking the model to a point where now CSA is hurting – as far as the board is concerned it becomes reckless trading. The model itself is fine, but it needs to be supported by money coming from outside CSA.”

A significant portion of those funds was to arise from the broadcast deal which Lorgat had, on a number of occasions claimed was close to being agreed, but it is believed the astronomical figures he demanded could not be met by pay-TV outfit SuperSport.

Meanwhile staff, including the T20GL’s tournament director, Russell Adams, will remain in position, and will continue the task of setting up the league for which they now have more time.

Moroe wasn’t able to say what would happen with the contracts signed by players and coaches.

Tony Irish, the SA Cricketers Association (the players union) chief executive, said the body would have to carefully assess what compensation was due to the players.

“They have all signed contracts and made the various arrangements. Players have given up other opportunities to participate in the Global T20 League. There is a whole range of reasons why the players need to be compensated,” Irish commented.

“What does a postponement actually mean? What are the chances the tournament actually going ahead next year?.” CSA unveil plans for SA’s first Franchise T20 tournament to the ICC in Dubai. Potential owners told to submit ‘an Expression of Interest’, and ‘a formal bid’. ‘Our vision is to drive the creation of a new #T20 destination league in South Africa that would energise the sport of cricket in South Africa by creating a global platform for the best-in-class to perform and showcase their talent to a global audience.’ – Chris Nenzani, CSA president

CSA says it receives submissions for franchise ownership from over 150 applicants in 10 countries. ‘We are very encouraged by the extent of the interest shown by potential team owners from South Africa and the rest of the world. We will now progress to the next stage where we will receive proposals to a tender from potential owners and then narrow down our search to a shortlist and then finally decide the eight team owners.’ – Haroon Lorgat, Cricket SA CEO

CSA invites players to register interest in participating in League. ‘There will be eight franchise teams participating in the #T20 Global Destination League and each will be allowed a maximum of four foreign defined players in their 17-man squad. The interest in our new league has been simply amazing and we are confident of staging one of the best T20 professional leagues in the world.’ – Lorgat.

Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Lasith Malinga, Brendon McCullum, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Kieron Pollard, Jason Roy are unveiled as ‘international marquee’ players for the event. ‘Coming from four different continents these players confirm the global interest we have already seen. No doubt this will grow as other international stars register their interest to participate in our new #T20 League. The high level of interest from players and sponsors to participate in our league is proof of the great attraction of South Africa as a global destination. This is indeed very exciting for the country.’ – Lorgat.

Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir are named the South African ‘marquee players’ for the tournament.

Closing date for potential owners to submit bids. CSA received more than 150 Expressions of Interest (EoIs) from potential owners as part of the first phase of the process. The majority of interest came from South Africa, making up 39% of the total EoIs received, with India making up a whopping 35%. There was also significant interest shown from the UK, USA and the UAE. ‘This is an opportunity that cannot be ignored. We are looking for prospective team owners who are passionate about cricket, as well as South Africa. They will share the same values and ideals in cricket and the country as we do.’ – Lorgat.

CSA reveals tournament name and logo with a glitzy laser show at the Wanderers. ‘It is our duty as Cricket South Africa to safeguard the future of the game. By backing a high-value tournament like the new T20 Global League, and investing in synergistic partnerships with key stakeholders, the T20 Global League is perfectly positioned to become an internationally successful sporting event.’ – Nenzani.

Lorgat confirms no broadcast deal, critical to the competition’s financial success, has been signed. ‘We are negotiating with our South African host broadcaster currently, I’m confident we will close that shortly. We are talking to SuperSport ... those are sensitive negotiations that we are currently engaged in. I must be honest, this is a commercial venture. We would look to see who would bid the price that we need to achieve in order make the model work.’ – Lorgat

One day after the end of the Champions Trophy, Cricket SA announce eight team owners at an event in London attended by Lorgat, a host of former players, and the SA marquee players. The event was originally supposed to take place at Lord’s, but that was nipped in the bud by the England Cricket Board. Only one SA company is among the owners, with one from Hong Kong, three from Pakistan and three from India. ‘The announcement of the team owners is a key milestone to successfully launch our T20 Global League. We are thrilled by the international mix of owners and the passion and excitement that was clearly demonstrated during the bidding process by them and the marquee players. It sets up our #T20GL as a fans favourite in the cricketing calendar.’ – Lorgat

Cricket SA Board receives ‘comprehensive update on the progress made to establish the T20 Global League. The board expressed satisfaction with the progress made to date’. That satisfaction is despite reports of a fallout between Lorgat and Cricket SA chief financial officer Nassei Appiah earlier in the month, over Lorgat’s apparent unilateral handling of the tournament. Still no broadcast deal in place. Russell Adams is appointed Tournament Director.

CSA hosts owners meeting in Dubai, which is addressed by the ICC’s AntiCorruption chief and communicates ‘preparatory details’ for the tournament. ‘ With less than 100 days to go before the opening match, we will need to move even faster from this day on. The Owners Workshop proved to be a success with all the owners enthralled by the details shared with them. Similarly, I was encouraged by the excitement and participation of (CSA) Members at yesterday’s workshop.’ – Lorgat. ‘I was very impressed by what I saw at the owner’s workshop. We are moving from baby steps to walking, meaning we can see the future now and it’s really exciting to see the T20 Global League taking shape.’ – Port Elizabeth Franchise Owner, Ajay Sethi.

Brimstone Investments, the only South African owner of a franchise, pulls out of the tournament. ‘We follow a rigorous investment process. This venture had to undergo the same process and be tested against our standard investment criteria as all other investment proposals. Our investment decisions take cognisance of the risks and benefits to all our stakeholders. We wish CSA well with the T20 Global League and will continue to support the development of, and access to, the sport in various other ways.’ – Mustaq Brey, CEO of Brimstone

Following the Player Draft in Cape Town, that was broadcast only on-line, Lorgat says he is confident a TV deal will be signed. ‘There’s a lot around the commercial aspects where we want to make sure we get the best deals for everyone concerned, including a broadcaster. So, we could go early and secure a deal and then say we shouldn’t have ... Or alternatively you can do it as late as possible. In our view it was better to do it after the owners were announced. And after the players were announced. There is now concrete evidence of what you selling.’ – Lorgat

Cricket SA release statements for the last financial year at its AGM indicating expenses of R4.5 million had been incurred by the GLT20, with a net loss of R3.3 million.

Bollywood star Preity Zinta unveiled as new owner of Stellenbosch franchise.

Reports emerge from India that Lorgat was in Mumbai looking to seal a deal for the international broadcasting rights for the tournament. It also emerges that SuperSport had left the negotiating table with regards the domestic rights.

Lorgat and CSA ‘part ways’. ‘The Board unanimously felt that it was in the best interest of the organisation that we agreed to a mutual separation agreement with Mr Lorgat. It was a tough call for us to make and we recognise that Mr Lorgat had made a big contribution to the success of the organisation and together with the Board was instrumental in changing the fortunes of CSA when it had endured a troublesome period 5 years ago.’ – Nenzani.

‘In late 2015, the very T20 Global League was a mere pipe dream. In January 2016, the Board supported my request to explore the prospects for a South African League and provided the mandate to develop the business case. Having worked hard since then and to the very best of my abilities, we are all very pleased with the impressive set of team owners and players already in place. I believe we will succeed to be among the best leagues in the world.’ – Lorgat

‘It’s been very challenging, we basically had to start negotiations (regarding the broadcast deal for the GLT20) afresh. I’ve also been in talks with our other key stakeholders to jump on board to support this, while providing the franchise owners with reassurances that we are still intent on providing delivery of the competition.’ – Interim CEO Thabang Moroe.

Cricket SA announce that it will incur losses of R342 million related to the GLT20. ‘Initially we were looking at a total net revenue of US$32 million (R438million) as far as TV and central sponsorship are concerned. At the moment it will be in the 20s. As CSA, we have decided to absorb some of the losses that our members would have incurred, but we’re doing so because when we look at our numbers, we’re pretty confident that we can help regain them in the following year. We as CSA and the team owners will still suffer losses. Hopefully, depending on how well we negotiate with all the broadcasters, the team owners will break even in year three. Our model is pretty watertight, it’s now just a matter of making sure that we deliver operationally.’ – Moroe

CSA announce that GLT20 will be postponed until November next year. ‘We have not come to this decision lightly. Having discussed it with all our stakeholders, including the franchise owners, we believe that the interest of the league should be our first priority. We have re-assessed our strategy and believe that postponing the first edition of the T20 Global League to next year will serve us well.’ – Moroe