South Africa Cricket has announced that disciplinary action against head coach Mark Boucher has been suspended following the withdrawal of a...
South Africa Cricket has announced that disciplinary action against head coach Mark Boucher has been suspended following the withdrawal of all charges, which was scheduled to begin on May 16.
The 45-year-old former Test wicketkeeper was facing charges of racial bias from Cricket South Africa, which could have led to his dismissal, according to foreign news agency AFP.
The South African governing body acknowledged in a statement that there was no basis for disciplinary action.
Social Justice and Networking (SJN) held a hearing last year on allegations of discrimination in cricket, following allegations against Mark Boucher.
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Boucher was accused by former teammate Paul Adams of singing racial slurs at a post-match fines meeting.
Adams said he was not prepared to testify at the hearing because he had stated in the SJN ombudsman that he was not against any particular player but was referring to the team overall culture.
South Africa Cricket said in a statement that Boucher had apologized to Adams, which was accepted.
Mark Boucher was also accused of sidelining black assistant coach Enoch Nico, after which Nico resigned, although Nico was not prepared to testify.
Mark Boucher was further accused of failing to effectively handle the controversy over Boucher campaign to show solidarity with the "lives of black citizens matter" movement.
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South African cricket said its lawyers consulted with witnesses and concluded that the three charges could not be upheld.
Cricket director Graeme Smith has also recently been acquitted. Like Boucher, he faced charges after a hearing by the SJN ombudsman.
Advocate Dominic N. C. Beza argued that the charges against Boucher would be dropped.
Cricket Board Chairman Lawson Naidu said that South African cricket had shown its commitment to take the issues raised in the SJN hearing very seriously and to ensure transparency.
In these cases, the decision to withdraw the charges will be considered final and South Africa Cricket and Mark Boucher will focus on returning to the cricket field. Mark Boucher has a contract until the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
Muskey, South Africa chief executive, acknowledged that it was a difficult time for Boucher.
South Africa's top businessmen have assembled a high-level legal team to defend Boucher.
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