Entire Cricket South Africa board resigns as crisis deepens

CAPE TOWN: The entire board of Cricket South Africa (CSA) has resigned ahead of a government-imposed deadline for it to co-operate in an investigation of misconduct within the sport’s national governing body.

The acting president and a group of board members resigned at a meeting Sunday and the remainder stepped down on Monday, Cricket South Africa said. Three board members will stay in their roles temporarily “to ensure the continuity and stability of the organisation,” CSA said.

It’s unclear how a new board will operate in the short-term but the South African sports ministry and the national Olympic committee wants to appoint a team to investigate the allegations.

CSA fired its CEO for serious misconduct in August but refused to make the results of an investigation of him public. It also refused to allow the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, an umbrella body for sports in South Africa, to conduct their own investigation.

That prompted the sports ministry to become involved. It gave CSA until Tuesday to co-operate or the government would intervene. Government intervention would put South Africa at risk of being banned from international cricket by the sport’s global governing body.

A report in The Citizen newspaper quoted an unnamed insider as saying: “Not all of the directors were happy to go but they were basically told they had to, we forced them.”

Six ‘non-independent’ board members — elected from cricket structures — were also part of the members’ council.

CSA president Beresford Williams resigned from both bodies but the other four non-independent board members who resigned on Sunday said they would remain part of the members’ council.

All three of the directors who will remain in place until the formation of an interim board are non-independent directors — Zola Thamae, John Mogodi and Donovan May.

South Africa are due to host England in a six-game limited-overs series starting next month.