- The International Cricket Council is keeping a close watch on matters at Cricket South Africa.
- This follows Wednesday's news that government will intervene in the running of the embattled organisation.
- CSA has not yet filed a formal complaint to the ICC citing government interference.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is monitoring the situation at Cricket South Africa (CSA) after the country's sports minister Nathi Mthethwa on Wednesday morning confirmed plans to intervene in the governance of the game.
CSA has endured a testing month with government and the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) having grown increasingly prominent in the affairs of the organisation.
Sascoc and the sports portfolio committee have instructed the CSA leadership - including acting CEO Kugandrie Govender, acting president Beresford Williams and the entire board - to stand down while a Sascoc task team takes over the running of the organisation.
It has left CSA reeling, with the Fundudzi forensic report that sought to unpack the leadership issues that have plagued the organisation also central in the developments of the last month.
Administratively, CSA is fighting for its life, but of even greater concern to cricket fans will be how this all impact on the national team.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ICC acknowledged receipt of Mthethwa's intentions.
"The ICC has received a letter from the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture in South Africa giving notice of potential intervention into the matters of Cricket South Africa," a spokesperson said.
"At this stage, no complaint has been received from Cricket South Africa regarding government intervention and Members are encouraged to resolve matters directly with their governments. We will continue to monitor the situation."
The ICC's constitution prohibits governmental or political interference in the running of its member councils and, in extreme circumstances, such interference can result in a member council losing its place at the ICC table.
Such a suspension would see the national teams of that council sidelined from major ICC tournaments and tours.
The good news, though, is that CSA has not yet filed a formal complaint to the ICC citing such government interference. That would need to happen before the ICC considered taking any investigative action.
The ICC, for now, is instead encouraging CSA and government to work together to resolve any issues before the 27 October deadline that Mthethwa has given CSA to make any written submissions with reasons why he should not intervene.
The ICC can intervene without a formal complaint from its member council, but that would only happen in extreme cases.