South Africa to bid for 2027 World Cup

JOHANNESBURG: Cricket South Africa will bid to host the 2027 men’s Cricket World Cup, acting president Rihan Richards said on Friday.

Richards made the announcement at a press conference at which details of a new governance model for CSA were revealed following months of wrangling.

He said agreement on the composition of a new board, with a majority of independent directors, would enable CSA to put the focus firmly back on cricket matters.

Richards said South Africa will take part in a bidding process for International Cricket Council events over a new eight-year cycle. Bidding is expected to open within the next few months.

“We will be bidding for both men’s and women’s World Cups, an Under-19 World Cup and a T20 World Cup,” said Richards.

“But our focus will be on the 2027 men’s World Cup. We believe it is an ideal opportunity as it will be 24 years since we last hosted it.”

South Africa staged the 2003 men’s World Cup and the 2005 women’s World Cup as well as the inaugural 2007 World T20 and the 2009 Champions Trophy. It also has staged two Under-19 tournaments.

Sports minister Nathi Mthethwa earlier announced he would no longer be withdrawing government recognition of CSA, which he threatened last week after the failure of the members’ council, headed by Richards, to reach agreement with an interim board on a governance structure.

Last week, Mthethwa informed CSA of his intention to use the National Sports and Recreation Act to strip them of their status as the governing body for cricket in the country, an act which would have left South Africa unable to play international matches.

Mthethwa attended Friday’s conference and said he would now move aside after a process which he said was “between life and death in cricket”.

“As the sole purpose of my intervention into the affairs of CSA was to facilitate a negotiated solution in respect of governance best practice, I have, based on the confirmation from CSA’s Acting President and IB Chairperson, instructed my Department to immediately initiate the requisite process to withdraw the notice,” Mthethwa said in a statement.

Interim board chairman Stavros Nicolaou said a target date of June 12 had been set for an annual general meeting — postponed from last October — at which a 15-member board would be installed, with eight independent directors and five nominated by the members’ council as well as the chief executive and chief financial officer of CSA.

There will be an independent chairman.

“When you’re at the edge of the cliff your sponsors get nervous, your staff get nervous, and the country at large gets nervous,” Nicolaou said. “We had to do something to pull back from the brink of the cliff.”