Controversies around Australian cricketer David Warner refuse to die down.
After an ugly feud with South African keeper-bat Quinton de Kock during the first Test in Durban last week, Warner has reason to be aggrieved during the ongoing second Test too.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Saturday was compelled to issue an apology to Cricket Australia (CA) after two of its officials were caught clicking pictures with fans wearing Sonny Bill Williams masks at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth.
Williams, of course, is a Rugby player from New Zealand and the same man with whom Warner's wife Candice had an infamous toilet tryst in a Sydney bar 11 years ago, much before she met the Aussie vice-captain.
The Proteas supporters wore those masks in a bid to rile up Warner. The left-handed opener was left fuming after De Kock had allegedly said something about Candice during the first Test, and the home fans wanted to further ridicule the Australian.
Not only should those masks have been banned from the stadium, what made matters worst was the fact that two CSA officials actually went ahead and clicked photographs with the notorious fans. Clive Eksteen, a former left-arm spinner and CSA's head of commercial, and Altaaf Kazi, CSA's head of media and communication, are the men in question.
"On behalf of CSA I extend my sincere apologies to the Board of Cricket Australia, its officials, team management, players and their families," CSA President Chris Nenzani was quoted as sating by ESPNcricinfo.
Kazi has admitted that it 'one of the worst judgment calls I have made'. According to him, the mask-wearing fans were not allowed inside the stadium initially, but somehow managed to contact him and Eksteen. "We found out because (the spectators) contacted us and we then went to security and got them in. They said 'let's take a photo with you guys'," revealed Kazi.
The photographs, taken on Day 1 of the ongoing second Test, have since gone viral on social media. The Australian team and its management are understandably enraged.
CSA was forced to do some serious damage control on Saturday. They issued an official statement which read: "While CSA respects the rights of its fans to represent their own points of view, CSA does not associate itself with these actions and urges all Protea supporters from refraining from being involved in distasteful or unwelcome actions that may impact the image of the sport and its supporters."
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