CNN — Following David Teeger’s dismissal as the captain of the South African Under-19 squad, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) accused Cricket South Africa (CSA) of antisemitism. However, CSA has refuted these claims.
Fears of “protests related to the war in Gaza” during the Under-19 men’s cricket World Cup, which begins in South Africa on Friday, led to Teeger, a Jewish player, resigning as captain.
Teeger, 19, has previously expressed support for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in remarks.
Following their meeting with CSA earlier this week, the SAJBD issued a statement claiming that Teeger’s loss of the captaincy could only be attributed to “plain antisemitism”; CSA disputes this assertion.
Cricket South Africa, the governing body, told CNN on Thursday that it “finds the accusations of antisemitism leveled against it by the SA Jewish Board of Deputies to be without any basis and rejects them with the contempt they deserve.”
The International Cricket Council (ICC) was also urged to step in by the SAJBD, but the global governing organization informed CNN that it will not look into the situation and that “team selection, including captaincy, is an issue for Members and not the ICC.” It is not the purpose of an international federation to meddle in team selection.
CSA stated in its announcement of Teeger’s dismissal as the Under-19 team’s captain that it has been “advised that protests related to the war” and has received “regular security and risk updates regarding the World Cup.”
The statement went on, “We have also been advised that there is a risk that [protests] could result in conflict or even violence, including between rival groups of protestors, and that they are likely to center around the position of the SA Under-19 (SA U19) captain, David Teeger.”
David should not be captain of the tournament, according to CSA, which cited a “primary duty to safeguard the interests and safety of all those involved.” All of the players, the SA U19 team, and David himself will benefit from this.
Teeger “will remain an important and active member of the squad and we wish him and the team every success in the tournament,” the CSA continued.
CNN has reached out to Teeger for comment, but has not heard back. “David is currently unavailable for media interviews at this stage,” a CSA spokeswoman told CNN when contacted through the South African team to provide a statement.
When Teeger accepted his Rising Star award at the ABSA Jewish Achievers Awards in October, just after the Israel-Hamas war broke out, he dedicated the honor to the IDF soldiers in his speech.
“Although I am now recognized as a “rising star,” the real rising stars in Israel are the young troops,” he declared at the time. “I would want to dedicate it to the state of Israel and all of the soldiers who are fighting so that we can live and thrive in the diaspora.
Following a complaint by the Palestine Solidarity Alliance, the CSA convened an independent panel in November to investigate whether Teeger’s remarks had violated any codes of behavior. The panel ultimately found that they had not.
Teeger’s captaincy was taken away by CSA at the same time as the South African government filed an extraordinary case before the UN’s highest court, accusing Israel of genocide.
