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Warner's wife slams SA fans as 'repulsive' over SBW masks

Cape Town - Disgraced Australian opener David Warner's wife, Candice, took aim at South African fans over taunting her husband by wearing Sonny Bill Williams masks during the Port Elizabeth Test match earlier this year. 

During the second Test in March, fans wore the SBW masks to taunt the Australian batsman, whose wife had an encounter with Williams in 2007 before meeting Warner.

The SBW masks were worn by spectators following a row between Warner and Proteas wicketkeeper/batsman Quinton de Kock during the first Test in Durban, which Warner claimed was sparked when De Kock insulted his wife.

Warner claimed De Kock made a "vile and disgusting" remark about Candice.

This incident also resulted in two senior Cricket South Africa (CSA) officials facing disciplinary action after posing with spectators wearing masks - the one resigned from his role at the national cricketing board.

CSA president Chris Nenzani apologised to the board of Cricket Australia and its officials, team management, players and their families following the incident.

Candice revealed in an interview that although the family had been through a tough time since the infamous ball-tampering saga - which occurred later during the Test series - the masks incident had stuck with her.

"It's not acceptable. The thing about sport is that no matter your religion, no matter your sex, no matter your beliefs, you should be able to go to a sporting match and sit there and support whatever team you go for," she said, as quoted by the New Zealand Herald

"It shouldn't matter about your race, religion, your anything, you should be safe from all that. So that's the one really disappointing thing - for me to go to a sporting match and to be shamed and to feel the way I did was just so wrong.

"Because it was terrible, it was shocking, it was repulsive, it was every word you can think to describe it, and I could quite possibly see that someone could take their life over something like that," she said.

Warner revealed to Australian Women's Weekly magazine in May this year that she suffered a miscarriage in the aftermath of her husband's part in a ball-tampering scandal.

Her husband is currently banned from state and international cricket for his part in the plan to use sandpaper to tamper with the ball during the Cape Town Test. However, he has made his return to the sport by playing in club cricket and in international T20 leagues.

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