'Deeply regret and apologies' - Mark Boucher apologizes for his inappropriate behaviour in the past

South Africa head coach Mark Boucher who was alleged for racially discriminating against players in the past has come with a strong apology on the matter. Firstly, he accepted the fact that team culture in his playing days was not up to the mark and mainly happened due to a lack of maturity and consciousness. He apologized for all his deeds that made his teammates feel otherwise.

However, he promised on making the culture more inclusive going forward. In the latest SJN hearings, Boucher handed over a 14-page affidavit to Cricket South Africa’s Social Justice and Nation Building Committee. His affidavit had a general answer to allegations put on him in the context of racial discrimination. He stated that he will submit the second response soon which would be more specific.

Boucher went on to add that he is all ready for one on one discussions with all his teammates who he might have offended in the past. He opened in detail on allegations made by Paul Adams. Adams earlier told SJN that he was being called brown s*** by his teammates in the 1990s.

Boucher clarified that he didn’t nickname him the same but was involved in the group which used to sing an offensive song referring to Adams. Boucher firstly accepted it to be totally inappropriate, unacceptable and in retrospect, understandably offensive.”

Mark Boucher also addressed the South Africa national team

“Deeply regrets and apologies for the part I played in joining in with my teammates in singing offensive songs or using offensive nicknames,” added Boucher.

It has to be noted that in the recent turn of events, Boucher also addressed the national South Africa team to explain the allegations made on him. The white-ball skipper of SA stated that the coach provided clarity and context of the matter and that they welcome the initiatives taken by SJN to help the players.

“He provided clarity and context and it was more about keeping the guys in his confidence and comfort. As much as we operate as a team and we try to control everything that is in our circle, those matters do come within the team and it’s important that we deal with it internally and ask whatever hard questions that we need to ask of each other to make sure we can keep growing within the team,” said Bavuma.