Old CSA T20 sponsor is back despite taint of match-fixing

Embattled Cricket South Africa received somewhat of a reprieve on Tuesday after announcing it had secured a title sponsor for the upcoming domestic T20 challenge.

The eye-raising thing about it is that the sponsor has effectively been recycled.

Courier company RAM is back on board, stating that it simply had to “revive” the tournament.

Ironically, the company unceremoniously stepped away from their previous association in the wake of the match-fixing scandal of 2015/16.

No less than six players – Thami Tsolekile, Jean Symes, Ethy Mbhalati, Pume Matshikwe, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Alviro Petersen – were handed bans for their involvement in which former Proteas ODI player Gulam Bodi was pinpointed as intermediary.

Ram didn’t divulge much information in that regard except walk away.

Their “new” association comes on the back of CSA’s much-publicised failure to launch the T20 Global League.

Nonetheless, it’s a fair assumption that RAM found the sudden availability of all the Proteas players too appealing not to throw their weight behind the tournament.

“Our business has been built on partnership, reliability and delivering when it counts!  When we received the call from CSA regarding the opportunity the answer was an unequivocal yes as everything spoke directly to what we are about,” said David Lazarus, executive chairman of RAM.

The tournament starts on Friday.

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