Cricket SA deny chief executive Haroon Lorgat was asked to quit

Cricket South Africa (CSA) have denied reports that the board asked chief executive Haroon Lorgat to resign as a result of a fallout he has had with chief financial officer Nassai Appiah.

But TimesLIVE has confirmed that a mediation process is underway to resolve “differences” between Lorgat and Appiah.

The report‚ published on website Cricbuzz on Tuesday‚ implied the impasse was related to Lorgat’s involvement in the sale of broadcast rights for the Global T20 (GT20)‚ which is scheduled for its inaugural edition in November and December.

“Haroon Lorgat has never been asked to resign‚” CSA’s lead independent director‚ Norman Arendse‚ told TimesLIVE on Tuesday.

“He has been asked to focus his energies on delivering a successful and financially sustainable GT20.”

Arendse said Lorgat’s role around the sale of broadcast rights had the board’s blessing and was subject to oversight.

“The CEO has the full support of the CSA board with regard to the negotiation of broadcast rights and he reports regularly to a sub-committee of the board that includes the CSA president and two of its independent directors‚ who in turn report to the board.”

People in Appiah’s position‚ Arendse said‚ are usually significant figures in deal-making between CSA and broadcasters.

“The CFO has never been directly involved for CSA in negotiating broadcast rights whether locally with SuperSport or the SABC or internationally‚” Arendse said.

“It’s not part of his job function; it's the function of the [commercial manager]‚ currently Clive Eksteen.”

But there was an issue between Lorgat and Appiah.

“Differences between Nassai Appiah and Haroon Lorgat were referred by agreement to independent private mediation and the process is still ongoing‚” Arendse said.

“The rules of privacy‚ privilege and confidentiality precludes me from commenting further save to say there has been no alleged ‘stand-off’ between the parties.”

- TimeLIVE