Graeme Smith 'vindicated' after independent panel clears racism allegations
Former Proteas captain and director of cricket Graeme Smith says he has been vindicated after an independent arbitration panel cleared him allegations of racism.
Cricket South Africa announced the findings on Sunday night.
Two independent arbitrators found there was no evidence to support tentative findings that Smith had shown racial bias in three instances.
Smith was among several people named in a report by Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, who had been appointed by CSA as an ombudsman in what were termed Social Justice and Nation Building hearings last year.
On Monday released a statement responding to the latest developments.
"I'm grateful that my name has finally been cleared. I've always given South African cricket my utmost, as a player, captain and administrator, over the last 20 years. So, to hear these baseless allegations of racism being made has been extremely difficult, both for me and my family. It has been exhausting and distracting, not least because South African cricket has also been going through a well-publicised rebuilding process which has required a lot of attention.
"I'm just pleased that we have now gone through a robust arbitration process before independent, objective arbitrators and I have been completely vindicated," Smith added.
Smith's lawyer David Becker labelled the claims against his client as an attempt to tarnish his image.
"Unfortunately, there were a multitude of opportunistic claims and insinuations made before the SJN which were not properly tested and were clearly false," said Becker.
"The allegations made against Graeme Smith in particular were made by a small group of disgruntled individuals with an obvious agenda to tarnish his good name and have him removed as the Director of Cricket. These vexatious claims and insinuations were serious and defamatory.
"Graeme has every right to feel aggrieved by these personal attacks. However, it is a testimony to his character and leadership that he has held his head up high throughout this process, focused on the job at hand and continued to play a hugely significant role in assisting South African cricket," Becker added.
The arbitrators also found no evidence to show racial discrimination in the appointment of Mark Boucher as head coach ahead of Enoch Nkwe, who had served briefly as team director.
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