MUMBAI: Cricket South Africa (CSA) may have kicked off the Mzansi Super League (MSL T20) last month in style, but their celebrations are not likely to last long. ESPNcricinfo reports that Mumbai-based Indian businessman Hiren Bhanu is all set to sue the cricket board for more than $500,000 in court over the abandoning of the T20 Global League (GLT20), which was replaced by the MSL this season.
Bhanu was the owner of Pretoria Mavericks, one of the eight franchises in the GLT20. Being disgruntled with the board and considering to take legal action against them for more than half a year, the businessman claims that he has spent $81,247.76 on marketing, $68,538.68 on legal fees, $107,216.81 on salaries and wages and $103,754.22 on travel as well as various other expenses during this period.
His company Hermis Sports Ventures Ltd. has successfully sought for the services of a top law firm in Johannesburg called Bowman Gilfillan. In response, CSA will be represented by another reputed law firm of the country, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs in court.
The only potential saviour for CSA is the fact that it had returned Hermis Sports the $180,000 it had paid for securing a license for owning the franchise. However, Bhanu claims that the amount has been accounted for in the lawsuit.
“We’re going to sue them for damages for the efforts that we put in,” Bhanu was quoted as saying to ESPNcricinfo.
“Some people were paid their expenses, and they are happy with that. I’m not happy with that. We just want to be compensated for our time and effort.”
CSA CEO Thabang Moroe was non-committal in his comments.
“We have a legal team tasked with dealing with those matters,” Moroe said.
GLT20 was said to be the brainchild of Moroe’s predecessor, Haroon Lorgat. However, with Lorgat’s exit from the board a few months after the league’s launch mainly due to management differences, its existence ran into trouble and was eventually disbanded earlier this year.
CSA’s troubles may not end with Bhanu’s lawsuit as ESPNcricinfo claims that another franchise owner, who wished to remain anonymous, is insistent on a financial settlement with the board as they are in the process of calculating all the losses incurred during this period.
