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Cape Town - Cricket South Africa acting CEO Thabang Moroe says it was a "no brainer" to postpone the T20 Global League until November next year.
South Africa's answer to the IPL and Big Bash League was due to get underway on November 3 this year, but CSA dropped a bombshell on Tuesday by announcing that, due to financial concerns, the tournament would not go ahead as planned.
The announcement followed the news two weeks ago that then-CEO Haroon Lorgat, considered the mastermind behind the Global League, had stepped down.
Securing a broadcast deal and a major sponsor were the main reasons for the postponement and Moroe confirmed on Tuesday that CSA could have stood to lose between $6-$8 million per year for the next five years (R400m-R540m) had they gone ahead with the tournament.
"If you have a look at where we are in terms of the budgets we had allocated in running the league, if you look at the numbers put in front of us for sponsorship and broadcast deals, we were going to make losses of between $6-$8 million every year for the next five years. It’s a no-brainer if you look at the numbers," Moroe told media on Tuesday.
"As far as reputational damage is concerned, I think it’s better for the board to act than not to act when they see things going wrong.
"I think that, from a reputation point of view, it stands the board in good stead in the sense that they have made a decision and are sticking to that decision.
"We are not going to deliver a T20 League to the detriment of CSA and its members. What’s important to CSA is its members and making sure that development continues. If we are going to deliver a league that takes away from that, it would be irresponsible.
"You can’t throw money at a problem like this. The best thing to do is stop the bleeding, take stock and come back stronger."
Moroe added that CSA had received a "mixed bag" of responses from the eight owners when they informed them of the decision.
"I can tell you that, I have no doubt, we have support from owners in terms of this decision," he said.
