CSA apologies 'unreservedly' for banning journalists

Cricket South Africa (CSA) CEO, Thabang Moroe has apologised unreservedly for the banning of sport journalists by his organisation. 

In a statement released late on Tuesday, Moroe says: "2019 has been a challenging year for Cricket South Africa. As CEO of CSA, it is my responsibility to articulate solutions for the way forward and to take you, our stakeholders, into my confidence, in order to rebuild trust in brand Cricket South Africa."

He goes on to say: "I unreservedly apologise on behalf of Cricket South Africa for the erroneous process that led to journalists having accreditation revoked. 

"I am proud to live in a free and fair South Africa where each and every one of us has the ability to complement and criticise any organisation, including my own for my and/or my team’s efforts. Too many people have made the ultimate sacrifice for the privilege of free speech and I’d like to apologise to Sanef (the South African National Editor's Forum) and all of your members for any harm that was caused during our accreditation error in judgement."

Sanef had condemned the moved by CSA, which came in the wave of critical reporting by journalists on the sorry state of affairs at CSA. 

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Moroe also apologised to sponsors for an ill-timed social media post. meant to thank them for their support. 

"It wasn’t our intention for that tweet to infer support for the accreditation blunder but instead to thank them for our longstanding partnerships," he said. 

Moroe said the CSA Board would be meeting for a special sitting this Saturday, to be immediately followed by a media conference to communicate the outcomes and next steps to South Africa via the media, "including but not limited to the Director of Cricket role, team selection processes for the England tour, and all other Cricket South Africa issues relevant to the South African public."