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Bloemfontein - The Bloem City Blazers have confirmed their commitment to the T20 Global League, despite this week's news of the tournament's postponement.
The tournament was due to get underway on November 3, but Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed on Tuesday that it had now been postponed until November 2018 due to financial concerns.
The Bloemfontein-based franchise released a statement on Wednesday in which owner Sushil Kumar expressed his disappointment at the decision yet gave his commitment to the tournament.
"The news of the postponement of the T20 Global League has evoked a set of mixed feelings for us. On one hand, there is a sense of disappointment. We, along with our fans, were looking forward to the tournament and our preparations were going ahead at full steam and taking promising shape," Kumar wrote.
"On the other hand, there is also a sense of relief. We will now have time to have clarity on the broadcast and sponsorship rights (for both the league and the teams), which have been unconfirmed.
"With less than a month to go before the tournament, the only concerns were related to the broadcast footprint and league sponsorship, which in turn affected the team sponsorship efforts. All other preparations were in place, thanks to our wonderful operations team in South Africa.
"We appreciate Cricket South Africa’s transparency and honesty at a very critical time. It is important that the necessary structures and contracts are in place for the tournament to have a successful run.
"We remain committed to the T20 Global League just as we were three months ago. We will be working towards the first edition scheduled for November 2018 with renewed vigour and enthusiasm.
"It also goes without saying that our commitment towards development at grassroots and schools level, transformation through performance and all investments towards the Mangaung Municipality are intact. We will continue to channel our strategy and efforts to bringing Bloemfontein and the Free State on the world cricketing map. It will also be our endeavour to work closely with our partners and stakeholders at the Mangaung Oval and Mangaung Municipality to achieve the above.
"South Africa has become our home, we are not going anywhere. We will continue to be a part of Bloem and the T20 Global League, which we have full faith will be a success."
