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Cricket SA pins crisis on suspended CEO

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CSA president Chris Nenzani. Picture: Lucky Nxumalo
CSA president Chris Nenzani. Picture: Lucky Nxumalo

Adding to this week’s drama, CSA boss blames operational mishaps on Thabang Moroe’s management style

Cricket SA (CSA) president Chris Nenzani has defended himself and his board for not resigning en masse in the wake of a week that saw the sport plunged into crisis mode, and lose credibility and its main sponsor, Standard Bank.

Speaking at a press conference called by the organisation to apprise the media of its plan to get cricket back on track yesterday, Nenzani denied that he and his board were complicit in the operations paralysis that ended up with current chief executive officer (CEO) Thabang Moroe suspended and replaced in an acting capacity by Titans CEO Jacques Faul.

Asked what responsibility the board took for the crisis in the sport, Nenzani put the blame squarely at Moroe’s door.

“The board is not complicit in terms of decision-making. The board made decisions, and those decisions had to be implemented by the CEO and his management.

“In that process, the board will have to conduct business and make decisions within its competency and for management to implement those decisions in terms of the mandate emanating from the board.

“What has been a critical element has been the nonpayment of money that is due to the SA Cricketers’ Association for the players, as well as the revocation of accreditation for certain journalists. Those are the issues that became so critical that we had to take drastic action. The rest of the matters are a matter of processing the decisions.

“The CEO has responsibilities so that he can be accountable to the board, and the board accounts to the members’ council [comprising the presidents of the provincial affiliates] in terms of the decisions it is making.

“After a very long discussion last night, the members’ council felt that the board should continue to ensure that the challenges facing this organisation are dealt with.”

Given what had transpired in a week in which CSA went into a spectacular meltdown – which began with the organisation revoking the accreditation of five journalists and ended with three board resignations; a rebuke from sponsor Sunfoil; Standard Bank giving CSA notice that it would not be renewing its sponsorship; and four staff suspensions that included Moroe – most would have expected the board to follow suit.

Former Proteas wicketkeeper and International Cricket Council CEO Dave Richardson had been earmarked to fill the void left by Moroe in an acting capacity, but he turned the offer down.

It was then accepted by Faul, who has played a similar role before – after the bonuses scandal of 2011.

Faul, who will consult with Richardson, will serve in an acting capacity for up to six months – a period in which CSA hopes to resolve Moroe’s situation.

This makes him the third person in a critical position within the organisation who is in an acting capacity – the others being the suspended acting director of cricket Corrie van Zyl and interim team director Enoch Nkwe.

Nenzani said they were hoping to tie former Proteas captain Graeme Smith down to an agreement over the role of director of cricket – for which he had been approached and which he had turned down twice – by Wednesday.

This is to allow other Proteas functions, such as team selection for the England series, to take place.

Given how difficult CSA has found it to tie Smith down, one wouldn’t bet on the organisation getting its man even at this late hour, which would trigger another round of crisis management as the first test against England looms on Boxing Day.

Looking at his second stint as acting CEO at CSA, Faul said the situation was different to the last time – he arrived in the wake of the bonuses scandal in which the then CSA executive had given themselves bonuses for bringing the Indian Premier League to South Africa without notifying the board.

“There was a clear pathway then and we knew what to do,” Faul said.

“In this case, there seems to be a lot of relationship problems we need to sort out. It’s difficult to say which ones are the worst, but they’re different, let me put it that way.”


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