CEO Thabang Moroe was on Friday (December 6) suspended by Cricket South Africa over allegations of misconduct against him. The news came just hours after the organisation’s major sponsor decided not to renew its longstanding contract from next year onwards.
Moroe was placed on a "precautionary suspension" by the CSA with the institution itself dealing with the operational shortcomings and a possible players' strike ahead of the home Test series against England.
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The decision follows reports received by the Social and Ethics Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee of the Board "related to possible failure of controls in the organisation," it said in a statement, adding that former ICC CEO David Richardson might be approached to replace Moroe on an interim bases during the suspension period.
Moroe wasn't available for comment but he was under the scanner ever since revoking the accreditation of as many as five senior journalists for he had been unhappy with their ways of covering the issues regarding the organisation.
That caused a public outcry leading to their reinstatement, and a rebuke from two board members, Shirley Zinn and Iqbal Khan, who both resigned in a move that suggested they had lost faith in his leadership. Khan was chief of the finance committee and among a list of grievances, said there had been "widespread credit card abuse" in the CSA offices.
Also, in another major blow, CSA's major sponsor Standard Bank announced it would not renew its financial support of the organisation when the current agreement ends in April 2020. The decision is understood to have been taken in wake of governance concerns that have damaged the bank’s reputation.
"Cricket is a national asset valued by millions of South Africans, many of them our clients, and is an integral part of the bank’s heritage," chief media officer Thulani Sibeko said in a statement.
"Standard Bank is committed to upholding the highest levels of leadership, integrity and governance. In light of recent developments at CSA, which are a culmination of long-standing problems which have damaged Standard Bank’s reputation, it has decided not to renew its partnership with CSA."
The South African Cricketers Association (SACA) also called for the resignation of the entire CSA board on Friday following a meeting of their executive and management. The players' body feels the possibility of a strike shouldn't be ruled out before the first Test of the summer in Centurion. But chief executive Tony Irish said they need to be mindful of the affects of such a decision.
"We will be responsible around the international tours, because we know that those affect teams from outside of South Africa," he said.
(Inputs from Reuters)
