Tension in CSA ranks over missing IPL cash

There seems a lot of discomfort within the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Board in the wake of allegations about missing millions paid to the cricket authority by the Indian Premier League and the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI), according to the sources.

And this appears to have been confirmed in a fuzzy statement released by CSA about the spending of the funds which said that "the majority of CSA Board members concur with these findings."

Despite a statement by CSA that "the IPL accounts have been audited by DeLoitte and Touche", not all Board members appear to have agreed with it.

The allegations surfaced when CSA President Mtutuzeli Nyoka was ousted in absentia in February when he questioned the payments of millions in bonuses to CSA chief executive Gerald Majola and other staff by the IPL, which Nyoka claimed Majola had not informed him about.

Nyoka last week won a case in the high court which called on CSA to reinstate him and also make available full details of finances related to the IPL which was played in South Africa in 2009 due to security concerns in India.

CSA said it "refuted as totally unfounded and devoid of truth" claims made by Nyoka in court papers that an amount of R68-million relate to CSA's hosting of IPL on behalf of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) had gone missing from CSA bank accounts.

"BCCI remitted cash to CSA to fund all other event-related costs which included stadium bumper costs, advertising and marketing etc.," the CSA statement said.

"All cash relating to these costs were not included in the income statement of CSA as they were not part of CSA activities and that CSA merely acted as a conduit for BCCI."

But while CSA has accounted for about R50 million of the IPL funding provided, there are still questions about the remaining R18 million, as alleged by Nyoka.

Three Board members who had joined Nyoka in calls for an independent forensic audit were also booted as the CSA decided on an internal inquiry which cleared Majola after he had paid the bonus back to his employer.

"I am pleased that CSA are now willing to answer questions," Nyoka told the daily The New Age on Wednesday.

"It has always been my position that the only way to deal with all these unanswered questions is through a forensic audit.

"I wish they showed the same enthusiasm in supporting the setting up of an independent commission of inquiry into executive bonuses and travel costs. That is the only way that cricket can heal itself."

Nyoka repeated his allegation that the majority of provincial affiliate cricket union presidents had voted to oust him because they were "more concerned about avoiding exposure of illicit dealings."

"It was a Pandora's box they were worried about opening," Nyoka said.

Acting CSA President AK Khan told The New Age that Nyoka was "just blowing smoke", but also caused a stir by claiming that the bonus issue was a racist one.

"When (former South African cricket boss) Ali Bacher was paid R5 million for the 2003 World Cup nobody said a thing," Khan told the New Age.

"But when a black man (Majola) is paid half that, there is hell to pay."