The crises continue to mount in Cricket South Africa. Proteas’ One Day Internationals sponsor Momentum has terminated its dead after the Olympic committee in South Africa had taken over the CSA administration.
The Momentum-CSA deal was to run till 2021.
This is the second major blow for the cricket administration body. Last year Standard Bank had abruptly ended its contract to sponsor the Test team as CSA faced accusations of malpractice and maladministration.
Last month CSA Chief Executive Jacques Foul and president Chris Nenzani were forced to quit while the services of the Chief Operations Officer Naasei Appiah were terminated.
The crisis worsened yesterday after Momentum announced to terminate the contract. Momentum while pulling out of men’s cricket has asserted that it will continue to honour the contract for the women’s team, which runs till 2023.
It will, however, not renew its sponsorship of international ODIs, the franchise one-day cup, the national club championships, the under-13, under-15, and under-17 school’s weeks, and development initiatives including the Momentum Friendship Games and the eKasi Challenge.
The leading South African health care and insurance brand, according to its head of sponsorships, was unhappy with the current state of affairs in CSA, which was reeling under accusations of malpractice and maladministration.
Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee of South Africa has suspended Cricket South Africa, derailing the operations of the cricket governing body.
The move may lead to more trouble for cricket in South Africa as the International Cricket Council rules do not allow government interference in cricket affairs. The latest development can potentially lead to international isolation for South Africa, which had already born the brunt of a global boycott during the apartheid era.