The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) has called on Cricket South Africa to launch an independent investigation into the Mzansi Super League dispute that has resulted in the suspension of three senior CSA staff members, including interim director of cricket Corrie van Zyl.
In a statement issued on Thursday morning, SACA said it was “very surprised” that the three had been suspended, as SACA’s dealings with them had been co-operative. The player body called it “highly unlikely” that CSA chief executive Thabang Moroe had been unaware of the payment obligations, and said that Moroe had signed the players’ commercial rights agreement in November last year.
“We are very surprised that Naasei Appiah, Corrie van Zyl and Clive Eksteen have been suspended in relation to allegations surrounding CSA’s non-compliance with the 2018 MSL commercial agreement”, Tony Irish, SACA CEO, said. “SACA didn’t deal with Appiah on this issue and in its dealings with Van Zyl and Eksteen over many months they both expressed a strong desire to resolve the payment issue, but it eventually became clear that higher approval to do so was necessary.
“We think it’s highly unlikely that CSA’s chief executive, Thabang Moroe, would not have been aware of this ongoing issue. He was undoubtedly aware of payment obligations as he had signed the agreement.”
More to follow…
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s South Africa correspondent
©
ESPN Sports Media Ltd.