Cricket South Africa (CSA) has run into trouble once again. In a sudden development, South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) suspended the CSA leaving South Africa cricket, already reeling under myriad troubles – racism, corruption and power-struggle — in a quandary.

According to information coming from South Africa, SASCOC, the governing body sports associations in the country, like Indian Olympic Association here, has asked the CSA board, company secretary and acting CEO to step down immediately. Reports have suggested that the action was because of corruption and maladministration.

The CSA has had three CEOs in the recent times — Thabang Moroe, whose contract was terminated after a forensic investigation and Jacques Faul, who resigned last month following the exit of CSA president Chris Nenzani. Currently it is headed by Kugandrie Govender, the first woman to be the CEO of an ICC member nation.

The SASCOC order is being seen as an interference by the government in the autonomy of an independent sports body but Haroon Lorgat, a former CEO CSA and International Cricket Council (ICC) said the action was long overdue and it cannot be interpreted as interference by the government.

“I think the report is being sensational. It is not government interference but rather an overdue intervention from SASCOC who are obliged to deal with a member in serious trouble,” Lorgat told Mirror on Wednesday night. He blamed the present state affair in South Africa cricket to poor leadership in the CSA. “There is a clear evidence of leadership failure in the CSA,” Lorgat further said.

Almost similar was the view of Gerald Majola, another former CEO of CSA, who refused to see it as government interference. “They’re (the CSA) not suspended by the SA government, but by SASCOC (South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Sports). I reserve my comment about anything regarding CSA,” he told Mirror.

How the SASCOC action will be viewed by the ICC is now the moot point. Should it be construed it as an interference by the government, the CSA could face sanction from the world cricket body but Lorgat refused to speculate on that. “You should ask ICC,” he said.

The ICC could not be immediately contacted but in a somewhat similar situation last year, the ICC has suspended Zimbabwe Cricket. It restored membership of ZC only after the government relented on its stand towards ZC.

The CSA said it will soon issue a statement on the suspension but it had not come till the time of going online.