Cricket South Africa extends support to 'Black Lives Matter' movement

Johannesburg: Cricket South Africa have extended their support to 'Black Lives Matter' movement, saying they would use their voice as a national sporting body to educate and listen to others on topics involving all forms of discrimination.

"Black Lives Matter. It is as simple as that. As a national sporting body representing more than 56 million South Africans and with the privileged position of owning a platform as large as we do, it is of vital importance that we use our voice to educate and listen to others on topics involving all forms of discrimination," CSA Acting CEO Jacques Faul said in a statement.

On the Nelson Mandela International Day on July 18, CSA will further spread the message of anti-racism through the BLM campaign, he added. "During our celebrations of Nelson Mandela International Day on 18 July, CSA will further spread the message of anti-racism through the BLM campaign while we also speak out against all forms of violence and in particular, the scourge that is gender based violence and various other causes that are of importance to our society and the organisation."

Earlier, CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith said that they will be discussing ways to express support for the Black Lives Matter movement but it may not be possible for having a BLM logo on the jerseys for the 3TC match as they have already been made.

"We're discussing various ways of handling it. The kit has gone to print already. We need to figure out how we can be effective about it, authentic, and spread the messages that are meaningful to us as South Africans and how it affects us on a daily basis," Smith is quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

The unique 3TC match features three teams playing in the same game. Smith said that while he is confident of coming across no opposition to taking any stand during the match, it is important to get everyone on the same page about it.

"We are all in our own little pockets and I think it's important that in the future we all come together and figure out how we can play our role in the Black Lives Matter movement," Smith said.

"My belief in these things is that its important to have buy-in and everyone invested in it as well and I have no doubt that will be the case but the discussion in each team environment and as CSA how we handle it going forward is important. We do have the 3TC approaching and that will be our first occasion with the Black Lives Matter movement," he added.

The 'Black Lives Matter' movement has intensified across the world following the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police personnel in US in May.

Cricket became the latest sport to voice their outrage regarding racism. The England players joined their West Indian counterparts in taking a knee before the start of the Southampton Test and both teams also wore a BLM emblem on their respective jerseys to put forward a stong message.