Cricket South Africa’s largest remaining sponsor, Momentum, has pulled the plug on its involvement with cricket and will not renew its contract once it expires in April next year.
As if the current state of affairs aren’t bad enough financially for CSA, Momentum’s departure is the second main sponsor to walk away after Standard Bank also decided against renewing its deal for the long-term future earlier this year.
Momentum, who has been part of the cricketing family in South Africa since 2012, will ultimately not endorse the Proteas men’s team, the Momentum One-Day Cup competition, the national club championship as well as most schools’ national festivals anymore.
They will, however, remain the main sponsor of the Proteas women’s team until their contract expires in 2023.
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In a statement Momentum’s head of sponsorships, Carel Bosman, slammed CSA for the administrative and governance mess it has created in recent times.
‘Momentum has expressed that they are not satisfied with the current state of affairs at CSA regarding governance and other reputational issues. We will continue our dialogue with CSA to keep them accountable to do the right thing.
‘We all want to see a governing body that is run professionally and ethically‚ and one that considers all stakeholders to the game. We wish CSA well as they move forward‚’ said Bosman.
‘We have had some really great innings‚ considering that we were involved in several platforms such as development cricket‚ schools cricket‚ club cricket‚ domestic and international cricket. Our support of and contribution to cricket is a positive story that we are proud of.
‘Our continued support is in line with our brand narrative and we will continue to shine a light on their talent, build their commercial value and enable them on their journey to success.’
Last week Sascoc informed CSA that it will appoint a task team to do a 30-day investigation into the operations at the organisation, to which CSA responded by saying it will seek legal advice on the matter.
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The two parties, however, met on Monday evening and held ‘positive’ and constructive talks about Sascoc’s interference.
