The circus that continues to amaze
That’s not the slogan of the latest dancing troupe that has rolled into town, but the only way in which to describe the current situation at Cricket South Africa that continues to dish up mind-blowing debacle after mind-blowing debacle.
A week in politics is a long time. A week at Cricket South Africa is a lifetime and the latest blow the decrepit institution came on Wednesday when controversial Independent Board Director Dr Eugenia Kula-Ameyaw went in on social media against Momentum.
The insurance company announced they were pulling the plug on their sponsorship of men’s cricket after nearly ten years. They will, however, remain the Proteas Women’s title sponsors.
Dr Kula-Ameyaw tweeted “Momentum forgets that we invest hundreds millions (sic) in Momentum in our SOE investments and pension funds. I remembered asking for the BBBEE certificate in (sic) my other board. Just check before you make and irrational decisions.”
The tweet was later deleted; however, tweets don’t escape the eagle eye of Cricket Twitter and the screenshot made it’s way around the Twittersphere like wildfire.
This then prompted Cricket South Africa to release a statement where they had to distance themselves from the comments made by Dr Kula-Ameyaw. They were apologising to Momentum.
“Cricket South Africa (CSA) sincerely apologises to Momentum for the unfortunate and unwarranted tweets made by one of our Board Members, in her personal capacity. CSA wishes to reiterate that Dr Eugenia Kula-Ameyaw did not act in her professional position as a non-executive board member of CSA,” said Beresford Williams, Acting President of Cricket South Africa.
The statement goes on to say.
“CSA is taking this matter very seriously and in light of the reputational damage potentially caused, CSA’s Members’ Council has referred the matter to the Social and Ethics Committee and once all internal processes have been completed, the necessary corrective action will be taken.”
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One of the more interesting revelations from this comment is that Dr Kula-Ameyaw sits on CSA’s Social and Ethics Committee.
This latest bouncer comes after they were struck by a SASCOC snorter late last week. The sports governing body demanded that they have access to the now-infamous forensic report into governance at cricket’s highest office.
CSA replied with a flat no which lead to apparently robust conversation between the two over the weekend, however those words came from CSA and not SASCOC.
Despite a pot and kettle situation when it comes to governance investigations, SASCOC is adamant that they will be involved in solving the catastrophe at CSA.
It was mentioned that when elephants fight it’s the grass that suffers, apologies for the cliché, however this is a case and point as cricketers in South Africa remain in limbo as to any plans for the near future.
With governance continuing to rear it’s battered head actual cricketing issues are not being addressed and players, fans and anyone willing to sponsor CSA are the ones that feel the brunt.
The rumours abound that November will be the start of the new domestic season and that the money-sapping Mzansi Super League will not happen. Getting concrete answers on what will happen in the immediate future is crucial to getting the game back on it’s feet.
