Johannesburg - Jacques Faul will not apply for the position as Cricket South Africa’s full-time chief executive under that organisation’s new administration - a further consequence of the bitter in-fighting that has beset CSA recently.
Faul has been the acting CEO since Gerald Majola was suspended last year in the wake of recommendations by a government-appointed committee that found Majola had breached the Companies Act on four occasions in collecting bonuses for himself and senior CSA staff in 2009.
However, CSA has yet to properly right its administrative ship despite promising moves in the past 12 months that included a proposed restructuring of its board of directors as per recommendations contained in Judge Chris Nicholson’s report.
Those proposals, however, have led to bitter in-fighting among current board members, many of whom are trying to hold on to their current status while others are looking to elevate themselves into more senior positions. Late last year, the country’s players, through their union, the SA Cricketers Association, lodged a dispute with CSA.
Faul, whose forthright approach has been deemed good by many in cricket circles, including the players, has grown weary of all the in-fighting and has chosen not to apply for the CEO position once it is advertised by the new board - whenever that comes into being.
“I’ve applied for the Titans CEO position, and if I don’t get that, I’ll go back to Potch. But I won’t be applying to be CSA’s fulltime CEO,” Faul said yesterday. He was seconded from the North West Cricket Union, where he was the CEO, last March following Majola’s suspension and only expected to be at CSA’s offices for six months.
Faul’s tenure, as well as that of stand-in president Willie Basson, would have ended at CSA’s annual general meeting, but that has already been postponed three times due to the current board’s failure to agree on the make-up of the proposed new board. The AGM is now scheduled to take place on February 2.
It was reported at the weekend that Basson would be tendering his resignation at a special board meeting tomorrow, but yesterday afternoon he was understood to be reconsidering that stance.
CSA’s current board have been unable to make up their minds about the structure for the new board. Initially they agreed to Nicholson’s recommendations about an 11-member board with nine independents.
Then a steering committee appointed by CSA and which contained observers from the ministry of sport and the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) agreed to a 5-5 split between independents and non-independents (provincial presidents), but thereafter a 7-5 split in favour of non-independents was tentatively agreed to.
The latest development is that a 9-7 structure in favour of non-independents is being seriously considered.
Such a proposal takes CSA far away from Nicholson’s recommendations, which called for a sleeker structure with a strong emphasis on independent directors whose expertise in fields beyond cricket were thought would strengthen CSA’s administration.
Cricket Australia has adopted a very strong independent element in their new administrative structure which Nicholson’s constantly referred to in his recommendations. Sascoc, through its CEO, Tubby Reddy, have stated that it believes a smaller independent quota on the new board would be more beneficial for CSA because, as Reddy explained, “sport must be run by sports people”.
The SA Cricketers Association says the players have grown increasingly “frustrated”.
“This controversy is damaging to the game,” Saca CEO Tony Irish said. “The players have been frustrated by the long time it’s taken to finalise the structure and the politics involved.”
Saca declared a dispute with CSA late last year through the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, and a hearing is scheduled to take place on February 6, four days after CSA’s AGM.
“It’s premature to start talking about strikes, but the players are getting very frustrated with how this is being handled,” Irish added. “They’ve been very patient and supportive of the Nicholson recommendations and were happy last year with the proposed 5-5 split and the independents contained therein.
“But this has dragged on far too long. We are not interested in who is on the board; it’s about finalising the structure and ensuring it is a credible structure.” - Cape Times