Chaos reigns as Cricket SA suspend three top employees

Cricket South Africa on Tuesday suspended both their chief financial officer, Naasei Appiah, and their acting director of cricket, Corrie van Zyl, leaving the beleaguered organisation in even more chaos with the high-stakes Mzansi Super League starting next week and the national team fresh off a disastrous tour of India, with England arriving in December.

The search for a permanent director of cricket and Proteas head coach still ongoing.

Van Zyl was joined in the exit queue by head of sales and sponsorships Clive Eksteen, meaning there is nobody with any international playing experience left in CSA management.

ALSO READ: Cobras hit back: CSA knew we weren’t going to pick three black players

CSA on Wednesday morning released a statement, saying that “allegations of dereliction of duties” by “certain CSA employees” related to unpaid player image right fees from last season’s Mzansi Super League are being investigated.

The federation though didn’t confirm the identities of the three men.

“While CSA regrets this unfortunate situation, as an organisation that promotes good governance and excellence in performance, we are pleased to report that, once uncovered, CSA successfully and quickly addressed this situation with SACA. In this regard an agreement was wherein all fees due to players will be transferred to SACA with immediate effect and through this mutual agreement,  CSA and SACA have averted all potential interruptions to the game of cricket,” it said.

Yet CSA’s “decisive action” – as formulated in it’s media release – can’t mask the intrigue and continued battles within the organisation.

Appiah has been a long-time ally of controversial chief executive officer Thabang Moroe, who has been accused of centralising power in his office.

Moroe and Van Zyl were largely responsible for trying to find a director of cricket and the new Proteas coach, but now the person with the “cricketing brains” is no longer there.

The trio were apparently told of their suspensions and kicked out of a meeting at CSA on Tuesday morning.

Apart from there being no title sponsor for the Mzansi Super League, for which no broadcast rights were sold, and the Proteas’ mediocre performances this year, CSA are also fighting three court battles.

The players’ association are opposing the restructuring of the domestic system as well as demanding money owed to their players for their image rights being used in last season’s MSL.

The Western Province Cricket Association are also taking CSA to court for summarily putting them under administration last month.

For more sport your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.