Cricket South Africa will be losing out on its ODI sponsor Momentum, whose contract is set to expire in 2021. Momentum is currently unhappy with the current state of affairs at CSA regarding governance and other reputational issues and as a result, it has decided to back out from being the sponsor.
In an official statement, Momentum has made it clear that it will 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.
As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, Momentum will, however, continue to the national women’s team until 2023 and they have also indicated keeping pressure on CSA to come out of the administrative crisis.
“We will continue our dialogue with CSA to keep them accountable to do the right thing. We all want to see a governing body that is run professionally and ethically, and one that considers all stakeholders to the game,” ESPNCricinfo quoted Carel Bosman, head of sponsorship at Momentum as saying.
CSA now has a rocky path to look forward to as Momentum has become the second major sponsor to cut ties with the board as Standard Bank opted to not continue their support of the Test team in December last year.
Lately, there has been a lot of turmoil within the CSA as the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) asked the country’s cricketing board and executive to step aside. However, the SASCOC had clarified that they are just going by the law in the country and there is no government interference of any regard.
As per the guidelines issued by ICC, it is clearly stated that the cricket board’s matters must be administered autonomously and there is no scope for government interference.
Article 2.4 of the ICC constitution says: “The Member must manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government (or other public or quasi-public body) interference in its governance, regulation and/or administration of Cricket in its Cricket Playing Country (including in operational matters, in the selection and management of teams, and in the appointment of coaches or support personnel).”
SASCOC is recognized by the National Sports and Recreation Act of 1998. It is the only sports confederation in South Africa, and all sporting bodies in South Africa operate under its guidelines.
