The ongoing turmoil in the senior leadership of Cricket South Africa has hit another low today with the suspension of the organisation’s CEO Thabang Moroe and a decision by title sponsor Standard Bank to end its association with the men’s team on the 30th of April next year, more than two decades to the day it signed on.
READ: Cricket South Africa in hot water for intimidating journalists
Thulani Sibeko, Standard Bank Group Chief Marketing, and Communications Officer says the decision to sever ties with CSA was not taken lightly as crickety remains a popular sporting code in South Africa.
“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. We wish the National Cricket Team well in the years ahead. The Test, ODI, and T-20 teams have made South Africans immensely proud over the years and we are grateful to have been a part of their journey,”
The Willowton Group, owners of another CSA sponsor Sunfoil called for CEO Thabang Moroe to step down from his role ahead of his suspension today.
The Willowton Group listed the revoking of media accreditations of well-respected cricket writers, the breakdown between CSA and SACA (South African Cricketers Association) as well as the suspension of the three senior CSA employees among the concerns it has had about the management of CSA over the past few months.
Moroe’s suspension by CSA’s board of directors comes a day before he was set to meet with them about recent controversies with the latest being that decision by CSA to bar certain journalists from covering cricket events. He wrote an apology to the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) this week after the body called on him to stop what they regard as an attempt to intimidate journalists and curtail media freedom.