AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher And Graeme Smith Named In South Africa Cricket Racism Reports

The Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) commission has accused Cricket South Africa (CSA) of unfair discrimination against players based on race.

CSA administration, CSA director and former cricketer Graeme Smith, South Africa National Cricket Team Head Coach Mark Boucher and legendary batsman AB de Villiers who recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket have been accused by SJN Commission head Dumisa Ntsebeza and a 235-page final report has been submitted.

According to ESPNcricinfo, the report even recommends South Africa cricket appoint a permanent ombudsman to deal with all kinds of race and gender-based matters and put an anonymous grievance policy in place.

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The racism issue arose after Paul Adams and Mark Boucher testified that the former was given a nickname that has racial overtones by his national teammates including the current head coach Boucher. The concerns regarding the non-selection of Thami Tsolekile was also raised after the retirement of Boucher.

“The decision of the panel was totally irrational and showed clear signs of systemic racism, CSA, Mr Graeme Smith and some selectors at the time really failed Mr Tsolekile and many black players of this time in many ways.” the report read, according to ESPNcricinfo.com.

Meanwhile, Head Coach Boucher had already apologised for singing a song that included a slur and said that white players in South Africa were not ready for the realities of post-Apartheid team dynamics.

I Support The Aims Of CSA’s Social Justice And Nation Building Process, To Ensure Equal Opportunities – AB de Villiers

Also, the AB de Villiers and Khaya Zondo matter has once again come to light which was about De Villiers not handling Zondo properly in the team. Notably, Zondo who was part of South Africa’s ODI Squad for the India tour in 2015 was not picked in playing XI even after first-choice player JP Duminy got injured ahead of the final clash, instead of Zondo, Dean Elgar who was a member of Test squad was included in the playing XI in the last match.

The reports claim that it was done “just to ensure that a black player was not placed in a position which he deemed as requiring greater experience.” 

Legendary batsman AB de Villiers had tweeted that he supports CSA’s Social Justice and Nation Building process and also said that he had always expressed honest opinions which he felt was best for the team and it was never based on anyone’s race. He asserted:

“I support the aims of CSA’s Social Justice and Nation Building process, to ensure equal opportunities in cricket, However, in my career, I expressed honest cricketing opinions only ever based on what I believed was best for the team., never based on anyone’s race. That’s the fact.”

Meanwhile, Cricket South Africa has revealed that the SJN process cost the organisation USD 500,000 and it has been extended to over six months and it was “both necessary and productive.”

Also Read: Travis Head, Shaheen Afridi And Marnus Labuschagne Reach Career-Best Rankings In Latest ICC Test Rankings

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