U19 World Cup 2024: South Africa Remove David Teeger From Captaincy Over Pro-Israel Remarks

For his comments on the Isreal-Gaza war, Cricket South Africa has removed U19 cricketer David Teeger from the captaincy position. Teeger made a pro-Israel statement while addressing a Jewish event in South Africa and praised a ‘young Israeli soldier’ involved in the war. CSA released a statement behind Teeger’s removal and stated that it was a matter of his safety.

However, the Palestine Solidarity Alliance was not happy with David Teeger‘s comments and complaint against him to Cricket South Africa. CSA opened an inquiry against Teeger and later cleared him up based on ‘free speech’.

David Teeger was honored with the Rising Star Award at the Jewish Achiever Awards function. After receiving the award, Teeger wanted to dedicate his award to the young Israeli soldiers who were fighting in the war against Gaza.

David Teeger’s pro-Israel comments on the war against Gaza

David Teeger said, “But more importantly, yes, I’ve been awarded this award, and yes, I am now the rising star, but the true rising stars are the young soldiers in Israel…So I’d like to dedicate this award to the South African family that married off one son whilst the other is still missing. And I’d like to dedicate it to the state of Israel and to every single soldier fighting so that we can live and thrive in the diaspora.”

CSA mentioned that the board didn’t have much time to prepare for the U19 World Cup as its hosting rights were taken away from Sri Lanka. CSA said in their statement, “We have been advised that protests related to the war in Gaza can be anticipated at the venues for the tournament. We have also been advised that they are likely to focus on the position of the SA Under-19 (SA U19) captain, David Teeger, and that there is a risk that they could result in conflict or even violence, including between rival groups of protestors.”

“CSA has a primary duty to safeguard the interests and safety of all those involved in the World Cup and must accordingly respect the expert advice of those responsible for the safety of participants and spectators. In all the circumstances, CSA has decided that David should be relieved of the captaincy for the tournament. This is in the best interests of all the players, the SA U19 team and David himself.”

After removing David Teeger from the captaincy position of South Africa’s U19 team, Cricket South Africa concluded their statement by mentioning that he will continue to be an active member of the team. CSA said, “David will remain an important and active member of the squad and we wish him and the team every success in the tournament. The newly appointed captain will be announced in due course.”

The U19 World Cup is all set to kick off in South Africa on January 19 and India are the defending champion of the tournament. South Africa won the tournament back in the year 2014 under the captaincy of Aiden Markram held in the United Arab Emirates.