On Wednesday Cricket South Africa confirmed that it had suspended three senior officials claiming they “were or were not derelict in fulfilling their duties.”
Independent Media understands that the three officials are the current interim Director of Cricket, Corrie van Zyl, Chief Operating Officer Nassei Appiah, and the Head of sales and sponsorship, Clive Eksteen.
The trio were apparently all asked to leave the building following a staff meeting at Cricket SA’s Johannesburg head office on Tuesday afternoon.
In a statement, released on Wednesday, CSA claim that the suspensions resulted from “an unfortunate situation involving players and player contracts”.
That situation pertains to the non payment of fees to players for last year’s Mzansi Super League.
Last week the South African Cricketers Association (SACA), the players union which represents over 300 professional players in the country, served notice that it was launching a dispute against CSA.
BAN: Head of Sales and Sponsorship Clive Eksteen. Picture: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix.
The dispute resulted from CSA’s failure to pay the players for use of their image rights in last year’s Mzansi Super League (MSL).
CSA further says it is investigating the matter “to determine the extent to which certain CSA employees were or were not derelict in fulfilling their duties”.
PUNISHED: Chief Operating Officer Naasei Appiah, right. Picture: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix.
Meanwhile, CSA stated that it had been in contact with SACA and agreed that all fees due to the players would be transferred to them with immediate effect.
CEO Thabang Moroe says: “CSA wants to reassure all cricket fans and all cricket stakeholders that our organisation and indeed our staff adhere to the highest ethical standards in all our dealings and that consistency and accountability remains uppermost in all our processes and procedures.
The Board & Management CSA has recently become aware of a situation involving players & player contracts, SACA in which speculation & allegations of dereliction were levelled against CSA, following alleged non-payment of player fees, stemming from the MSL arrangement, in 2018.
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) October 30, 2019
“It is our expectation that all our staff members, including third-party stakeholders who are associated with the CSA brand, should protect the reputation of CSA and the sport of cricket at all times.”
The suspensions rocked the organisation on Tuesday afternoon, leaving many employees shocked.
Asked for comment, Van Zyl, a former Proteas coach, says: “Please with respect, I don’t want to talk.”