CSA could be bowled out
Cricketing body faces losing its status
THE South African men’s team’s tour to the West Indies in June, and the national women’s trip to England later this year could be in jeopardy if Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa follows through with his threat to ban Cricket South Africa (CSA) as the sport’s governing body in the country.
South African cricket was left reeling yesterday, after the minister said he would be invoking his rights, under the National Sport and Recreation Act, that include not recognising a federation. Should that happen, the CSA will no longer be able to hand out national colours and the Proteas won’t be the national team.
That could mean the Proteas not touring and the effects of that on sponsorship deals would be severe for a sport that is already suffering because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Sponsors will want to suspend deals, and the national men’s team – that generates 80% of all revenue in South African cricket – will be in danger. So all that revenue will disappear and then broadcasters won’t want to show the team because that’s not the Proteas – it’s not South Africa playing,” said chief executive of the SA Cricketers’ Association Andrew Breetzke.
Mthethwa will make a pronouncement on his decision this week, but following Saturday evening’s special general meeting of CSA’s Members Council – the highest decision making body in the organisation comprising the 14 presidents – the minister was left with no choice.
The council had on April 10 informed Mthethwa that it had agreed to make the necessary changes to CSA’s Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI), allowing for more independent directors to serve on the new board and for the board’s chairperson to be an independent as well.
However, at Saturday’s meeting, with Mthethwa present, a section of the Members Council did a hatchet job, using the SA Sports Confederation & Olympic Committee (Sascoc) as cover, to reverse its earlier pledge and not vote with the necessary majority to change the memorandum.
The president of Eastern Province cricket, Donovan May, with support from Daniel Govender (KwaZulu-Natal), John Mogodi (Limpopo), Gibson Molale (Northern Cape) and Simphiwe Ndzundzu (Border) asked that Saturday’s vote be kept secret. Ultimately, the council failed to obtain the 75% majority needed to change the MOI.
Sascoc president Barry Hendricks was only invited to the meeting as an observer but after a request from May – understood to be one of the ringleaders of the faction on the council that wants to maintain the status quo – Hendricks was allowed to read a letter, in which he stated that CSA needed to provide Sascoc with a copy of changes to the MOI, lest CSA be in breach of Sascoc’s constitution.
Hendricks’s intervention infuriated Mthethwa, who issued a stinging rebuke of the Sascoc president, saying the Olympic body’s opportunity to intervene in CSA’s troubles had long passed.
The chairperson of the interim board Stavros Nicolaou described Sascoc’s intervention as “totally unacceptable and that it, indeed, appeared orchestrated”.
Mthethwa appointed the interim board last year to resolve CSA’s administrative crisis. The interim board yesterday said that it would still be submitting a report – which should have gone to CSA’s next annual general meeting – that would “provide details of the ongoing and acute governance failures in cricket”.
Nicolaou added that the Members Council’s actions placed the future of the sport at “grave risk”.
“The board believes that the minister was left with no option but to invoke his powers in terms of the act. The board remains concerned that the impact of the Members Council’s actions will have serious consequences for cricket's stakeholders, specifically grassroots cricket and sponsorship contracts,” said Nicolaou.
The council’s chairperson, Rihan Richards, undertook to convene a meeting of the body yesterday evening.