Lonwabo Tsotsobe Accuses Cricket South Africa of Subtly Practicing Racial Discrimination

South Africa’s veteran speedster Lonwabo Tsotsobe has hurled some serious accusations against Cricket South Africa (CSA). Tsotsobe narrated various instances from his stint with the South Africa team when he was subjected to discrimination on the basis of his color and ethnicity.

Revealing his personal experience, Tsotsobe has claimed that what is projected in the media is a facade as the existence of racism in CSA is subtle yet brutal. Tsotsobe's cricket career has been marred with controversies. He was one of the mainstays of Proteas bowling line-up. However, his cricket career came to a halt abruptly after he was handed an eight-year ban for his involvement in the match-fixing scandal in 2015.

Tsotsobe has maintained that he was falsely framed in the match-fixing scandal and is innocent. The 37-year-old revealed a lot of instances where he was treated differently because of his black skin color. Tsotsobe made these revelations in his submission to the office of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) SJN transformation ombudsman.

Speaking about his sanction, Tsotsobe asserted that the process that led to his ban was highly biased and thus he wants his sanction declared “null and avoid”. In his submission, the left-hander argued, “As a pre-cursor to the whole match-fixing saga, it is important to give context to the life of a player of color in a white dominated sport."

Backing the accusations made by him against CSA, Tsotsobe shared a few incidents that panned out during his stint with the Proteas team from 2009 to 2014. Tsotsobe revealed that during the initial days of his international career, he was made to carry the bags of the senior players onto the bus.

The pacer brushed off the incident thinking that it is some sort of tradition for every newcomer. It was only when he became a senior player, he came to know that he was subjected to work because he was black. Tsotsobe revealed that none of the newly selected white players were subjected to the so-called initiation practice.

Further, elaborating another brutal incident, the 37-year-old asserted that once his mother was kicked out of the presidential suit in a stadium just because the suite was occupied with families of white players. Tsotsobe's mother was allowed to enter the suit again only when the seamer told the authorities that he will abandon the game if his mother isn't afforded the same treatment and status just like the white folks.

The aforementioned claims made by Tsotsobe are likely to put Cricket South Africa under radar. Notably, a hearing was scheduled against the discrimination charges on Wednesday, however, it has been suspended for an indefinite time due to unknown reasons.

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• csa
• Lonwabo Tsotsobe
• South Africa