Cricket South Africa met with the South African Jewish Board of Deputies regarding the David Teeger matter that refuses to go away.

• The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) is hoping the International Cricket Council will intervene in the David Teeger matter after their meeting with Cricket South Africa didn’t go as planned.
• The SAJBD took umbrage at the demotion of Teeger as captain from the South Africa Under-19 World Cup that starts on Friday.
• SAJBD president Zev Krengel likened CSA’s act to modern-day anti-Semitism and was also left puzzled b
• For more, please visit News24 Sports‘ home page.

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) is hoping the International Cricket Council (ICC) will intervene in the David Teeger matter after Tuesday’s meeting with Cricket South Africa (CSA) didn’t go as planned, something that left them seething, especially with what they perceived to be a lack of clarity around security matters that led to Teeger being shafted as captain. 

The SAJBD and CSA met on Tuesday in what became a failed attempt to iron out their differences after Teeger was stripped of the South African Under-19 team captaincy, something CSA’s board executed on Friday.

Juan James replaced Teeger as skipper ahead of their Under-19 World Cup campaign, which starts this Friday.

Netwerk24 reported on Sunday that there was political interference in CSA’s decision to ditch Teeger, something that was reiterated in Tuesday afternoon’s press virtual conference 

READ | ICC gives SA green light for U19 World Cup as Teeger storm refuses to subside

News24 on Monday had approached the ICC to get clarity on whether they were able to intervene in selection matters, receiving a firm response from the ICC’s senior communications manager Mary Godbeer.

“In terms of team selection/captaincy that is an issue for the member [CSA],” Godbeer said.

SAJBD national director Wendy Kahn said they were taken back by what they felt was a lack of detail by CSA with regard to the security matters that led to Teeger’s removal as captain. 

“It was like some flippant briefing. There wasn’t even a document and I think that really shocked us,” Kahn told News24.

“When we kept on probing, they kept on changing the story and telling us different things. They first said they were trying to protect David, then they said [they were trying to protect] the team.

“Then they said they wanted to protect the spectators and they finally said the schools could come [to the games], where there could be a possibility that a child gets hit by a rubber bullet and dies.

“If that’s the level of the security understanding, then it speaks to a lack of clarity in terms of what the issue is, and to make such a big decision with ramifications around discrimination without proper security analysis is extremely disturbing.

“There were no specifics or a specific threat that was identified.”

SAJBD president Zev Krengel remained steadfast in hoping the ICC would bring CSA to the table and reinstate Teeger.

“If the ICC does nothing about this and [after] what we’ve been through in this meeting, it will be a black mark on the ICC,” Krengel said.

“It’s the same as the International Olympic Committee who have a black mark for allowing Nazi Germany to have the 1936 Olympics.

OPINION | Teeger rightly stripped of SA U19 captaincy, but his faith is not the reason

“If CSA can’t do the minimum in reinstating Teeger, the ICC can understand that this is the highest form of discrimination and step in to find out the root cause of the issue.

“The ICC also sees no security threat and it’s up to the ICC to ensure that David is reinstated as captain.

“If they can disagree with his views, that’s fine, but we’re extremely disappointed that they can’t stand by their player.”

Krengel said CSA’s handling of the Teeger matter was similar to the exclusion of US sprinters Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, who were excluded from the 4x100m relay in the 1936 Olympics that were held in Berlin at the height of Nazi Germany.

READ | Cricket SA seeks clarity on Teeger captaincy debacle, sports ministry denies political interference

Krengel also accused CSA of indulging in anti-Semitism in their exclusion of Teeger. “This smells of what happened in 1936 when the US Olympic team pulled out two athletes from the 100m relay at the 11th hour because they didn’t want to upset Hitler,” Krengel said.

“The American athletics team pulled out their two Jewish athletes. We found the meeting to be unfortunate, but we stated that they had to reinstate him as captain.

“He’s an incredible player and leader who has led his team very well. It’s a disgrace for Cricket South Africa.

“We couldn’t agree on anything and we won’t agree to disagree as we feel this is pure discrimination and anti-Semitism.

“There’s massive political interference by the [governing] ANC and people on the board who have different views to David even though he was exonerated.”

News24 contacted CSA’s independent board director Lawson Naidoo, who said they weren’t in a position to comment, while a meeting between CSA and SA Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) coalition also having taken place on Tuesday. 

Kahn said they’ve engaged with key security personnel and they were not informed of any threats towards Teeger. 

“Over the past three months, our community has come under threat and intimidation,” Kahn said.

“There have been significant issues we’ve experienced at many different levels and we’ve been working closely with state security and the police.

“Nothing of this nature was raised with us and yes, we do watch very closely in terms of security issues and that’s why we agreed to the meeting.

“Our discussions with the security cluster didn’t raise any suspicious and concerns.”