Cricket in South Africa is going through a major crisis after the Sports Federation and the Olympic Committee, a government body that oversees the nation's wide sport, suspended cricket in the country, South African cricket. This means South Africa Cricket has halted its daily operations and is raising questions about the team's future in international cricket. International Cricket Council (ICC) rules prohibit government interference, and this could mean that the national team's participation in international tournaments could be at risk.
This unprecedented development comes after months of turmoil in the management of cricket in South Africa. What could this mean for South African cricket and players, as well as the future of international cricket for Proteas? Here is an explanation
Q) What is SASCOC, the government entity that stopped cricket in South Africa?
SASCOC (South African Athletic Association and Olympic Committee) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and National Paralympic Committee (NPC) in South Africa and the body responsible for South Africa in the Commonwealth Games. It is also responsible for high-performance sports in the country and coordinates the relationship with various international sports federations. Therefore, it is a sports ombudsman that was formed after a process that began with a working group set up by the Minister of Sports. Therefore, it is a super body of government.
Q) Why was Cricket South Africa acquired and stopped operations?
In the last year, Cricket South Africa has suffered from many problems, especially since December 2019. There were three main problems which were racism, lines of payments, and accusations of corruption. The sacking of its CEO, Thabang Morrow, was the first in a series of managerial crises that affected South African cricket. Morrow was fired for "gross misconduct". The administrative crisis was exacerbated when CEO Chris Nenzani resigned, and so did Jack Bean. Therefore, for "alleged mismanagement and misconduct", cricket in South Africa has been suspended.
Q) Why could South Africa be banned?
The ICC does not permit any form of government interference in the daily management of the board. This was the reason why cricket was banned in Zimbabwe for a certain period last year due to increased government interference. If this happened, South Africa could be banned for the second time in its history, with the first ban between 1970 and 1991 due to apartheid policies.
Q) Will the current participation of South African players in the IPL be in question?
It is not yet known if this measure will affect the participation of South African players in the IPL. From now on, they are free to compete. Only their international matches can be called into question.
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