SA cricket in crisis as CSA loses recognition

Cricket South Africa (CSA) will no longer be recognised by Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa in a move that will have serious consequences for the sport in this country.

The failure of the members’ council to accept a new constitution that would institute a majority independent board and an independent chair has led Mthethwa to take drastic action.

He and the interim board he put in place at CSA have been negotiating with the members’ council since the end of January to try and get the new memorandum of incorporation approved.

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The members’ council has called a meeting for this afternoon and there have been suggestions that, far from finally caving in, they will look to take legal action against the minister to try and prevent him from invoking his powers as laid out in the Sports Act.

But the fact that it has to get approval from the interim board in order to launch any legal action suggests that route is also denied to them.

Losing the recognition of government will have major effects on CSA, both financially and in terms of the Proteas men’s and women’s teams. It is believed many of their sponsorship deals will have clauses in their contracts making them dependent on CSA being the recognised body running cricket in this country.

In these economically constrained times of Covid-19, sponsors looking for an excuse to pull out now have a watertight reason. It is also believed that four potential sponsors that were lined up to come on board this year have now withdrawn interest.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been kept up to date on developments in the crisis by Mthethwa and they have been happy to take a back seat because the minister’s involvement is seen as being a bid to improve the governance of the sport.

But Mthethwa’s move means CSA is not allowed to use the Proteas emblem or the national flag. Any teams it chooses will not represent the country and government could deny the teams the right to leave the country or block overseas sides from entering.

It is at this stage that the ICC will have to take action because, technically, any match involving the “Proteas” would be a friendly, unofficial contest. That would seriously detract from the international game.

The other major blow that will strike CSA will be the cancellation of broadcast deals. The amounts being paid for broadcast rights have decreased recently, mirroring a lessening of interest in the product, and the current broadcast deals will be premised on the actual Proteas playing proper international cricket.

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