The Free State Knights are threatening to take CSA to court over the adjusted One-Day Cup log.
This follows CSA’s decision to dock the EP Warriors five log points for only selecting two black Africans (instead of three) among the required six players of colour for their match against the KZN Dolphins in Durban on 16 February.
That saw the Warriors drop down to fourth on the log and miss out on the playoff qualifier, while the KZN Dolphins moved up to second after being awarded four log points.
As a result, the Dolphins hosted and won Wednesday’s playoff qualifier against the Northerns Titans, and will face Boland in Sunday’s final in Paarl.
However, while the Warriors’ log points tally was reduced from 21 to 16 – the same as the Knights – their win tally of four has not changed. As a result, they are above the Knights, who only won three matches.
In a letter to CSA, the Knights have demanded that the Warriors be moved down from fourth to fifth place on the log.
“We have already sought legal advice. If CSA does not respond positively to our letter, we will send them a lawyer’s letter,” Knights CEO Johan van Heerden told Rapport.
“Why are [the Warriors] getting recognition for a win for that match [against the Dolphins]? It should be a draw, not a win.”
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If the Knights moved up to fourth on the log, they would get five promotion-relegation points from the One-Day Cup instead of three points for fifth.
The Free Staters are currently last on the promotion-relegation table with four points and the Warriors third last with seven.
“It’s about relegation and promotion. When we were relegated before, we lost our main sponsor, Itec, and we lost R5-million,” Van Heerden explained.
“If you move down [to Division 2], there is a big exodus of all your players and you have to maintain your field with about 40% of the budget that is reserved for teams in Division 1.”
Photo: Charle Lombard/Gallo Images
