Cricket South Africa to investigate ill-planned T20 Global League

The league was due to start from November 3 this year but has been postponed to next year.

Johannesburg: Cricket South Africa (CSA) has said that they would carry out an investigation to find out what went wrong in the planning of the failed inaugural edition of T20 Global League that was due to start from November 3 this year but has been postponed to next year.

The tournament had been facing multiple logistical challenges, including the inability to secure a broadcast deal or a title sponsor. Last week, acting CSA CEO Thabang Moroe had said that the board is preparing for a net loss of US $25 million (approx Rs. 342.58 million) from the inaugural edition of the tournament, an amount that accounts for more than half its current cash reserves.

Following a board meeting, CSA issued a statement on Wednesday outlining the path forward after the departure of CEO Haroon Lorgat. As per Sport24, the cricket body, in its statement, said that it was fully committed to launch the T20 GL in November of 2018 and that they had appointed a project team to ensure that the planning went ahead with no hiccups.

The full CSA statement following the board meeting is as follows: 

The board reiterated its decision to postpone the start of the inaugural T20 Global League to the beginning of November 2018. The circumstances that led to this decision are being further scrutinised and discussed. The board has also appointed a project team to lead and oversee the project going forward. 

The board recognises and appreciates the fact that the afore-mentioned decision has led to general disappointment in the country and to the cricket supporters in particular. It must be emphasised that the board took this decision in order to avert any potential financial ruin and reputational damage to the organisation. 

The decision to postpone the commencement of the league has been taken in the best interests of the sport of cricket and the organisation. The board will continue to engage with the franchise owners in ensuring that a very successful T20GL is launched in November 2018. 

In this regard, the board is encouraged by the continued commitment expressed by the franchise owners to work with CSA in delivering the league. The franchise owners have also expressed their intentions to avail their expertise and experience to CSA, to enable CSA to deliver a successful league campaign. 

The board has approved the commencement of a broad scope investigation into the internal processes on all aspects of the T20GL, as undertaken by various parties during the period of the establishment of the league. These investigations have already commenced. 

The scope of the investigation will in principle cover the planning and execution of the T20 Global League with specific focus on, inter alia, aspects of governance, agreements concluded, payments, staff recruitment, authorisation and delegation of authority, league development strategy, decision making etc. 

The board shall await receipt of the findings emanating from the investigation, and thereafter consider its options going forward. In order to give space and time to the investigations to be conducted, CSA will make no further media comments on the matter. 

CSA is committed to conducting credible and valid investigations for the benefit of the game and a successful inaugural T20GL tournament in November 2018.The T20 Global League is an international T20 cricket league based in South Africa that was supposed to make its debut in the last quarter of 2017 with eight participating teams, consisting of local and international cricket players.