ICC clears Lorgat of wrongdoing

South African cricket boss Haroon Lorgat

South African cricket boss Haroon Lorgat

Published Mar 13, 2014

Share

Johannesburg – An independent probe commissioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) has cleared South African cricket boss Haroon Lorgat for his alleged part in bad-mouthing the Indian cricket board.

“As we expected, all the allegations have been dismissed and the board would like to reiterate its full trust and confidence in Mr Lorgat as its chief executive,” Cricket SA (CSA) president Chris Nenzani said in a statement on Thursday.

The allegations investigated by the independent inquiry centred around a statement David Becker, a former CSA legal advisor, sent to the media in October last year regarding the attitude of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and its shortening of the end-of-year cricket tour to South Africa.

The ICC was concerned Lorgat knew about and was involved in the preparation of the statement and the subsequent tactics he used to try and persuade the media to delay and/or withdraw the publication of the statement.

“It is also clear that allegations and insinuations made against Mr Lorgat by certain journalists were unprofessional and do not fall within the bounds of fair or justifiable comment.

“I hope these individuals or their organisations will now have the courage to issue an apology to both Mr Lorgat and CSA.”

Freelance journalist Telford Vice, one of the reporters who went ahead and published Becker's statement, said a request for an apology did not make sense.

“Mr Lorgat has admitted that he tried to stop journalists from writing particular stories,” Vice said.

“Now he seems to want those journalists to apologise for reporting what he has admitted to doing. His logic is difficult to follow.” – Sapa

Related Topics: