After its T20 plan hits a wall again, CSA says not desperate to host such league

Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) efforts to host a successful T20 league on its home soil has failed to bear any fruit so far and on Friday, August 24, it gave an impression that such a league is not something it is dying for. In a public statement, the board said that it is a profit-making body and there is no desperation to host a T20 league to assure itself “financial sustainability”.

CSA also said that they should be in a position to arrive at a decision on the viability of hosting the league this year by the middle of September. South Africa’s much anticipated T20 Global League was postponed by over a year in 2017, after the exit of Haroon Lorgat, the board’s chief executive and the league’s chief negotiator.

A few days ago, the plan to stage the domestic T20 competition received another big blow when broadcaster SuperSport withdrew from its shareholding arrangement with the board.

CSA is a profitable body

It looks the CSA is now at a great disadvantage and in the hunt for a comfortable exit route from the mess. “It is important to highlight that CSA is a profitable sporting federation and that much as we believe in the product, we do not have to host a T20 league to assure financial sustainability,” Cricbuzz quoted CSA Chief Executive Thabang Moroe as saying.

The board emphasised again its belied in a remodelled T20 league but said it was not looking forward to host such an event “at all costs”.

“CSA believes that this can become a global sport event on the national calendar. However, the desire to host such event cannot be considered at all cost,” the CSA release said.

“In this regard the CSA approach to cautious optimism might not be a popular approach. As a responsible governing body, CSA must ensure that an aspirational event is not to the detriment of the bulk of many cricketing activities that currently serve players and supporters.”

Following the withdrawal of SuperSport, CSA now is left without an investor. The fact that SuperSport had 49 per cent stake was not liked by the former Global T20 owners who had a heated discussion with CSA officials in Dubai and Mumbai and are now on their way to take legal action against the South African board.

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