Despite the tournament having secured an official backer (sponsor), Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday confirmed that the Mzansi Super League (MSL) scheduled for February 2022 has been called off.
The decision has been taken owing to the COVID-19 environment which has made it difficult to maintain the brand proposition of being the premium international T20 tournament, due to increased travel restrictions as imposed by many nations on South Africa since the discovery of the Omicron variant of the virus.
The MSL was conceptualized as the premium global T20 competition to rival the likes of Indian Premier League (IPL), Pakistan Super League (PSL), Big Bash League (BBL); to name a few.
"This was done to create a commercial vehicle to attract global and local sponsors as well as to drive interest in cricket amongst non-cricket fans in South Africa. However, restrictions such as stricter travel possibilities, the Bio-Secure Environment frustrations, fear of the new variant, and the weak Rand/US Dollar exchange rate are some of the main reasons why CSA has taken the decision to call off the 2022 version of the MSL," stated an official CSA release.
This is the second edition to be cancelled, as the 2020 edition was also cancelled due to Covid-19 logistical challenges.
CSA said Pholetsi Moseki, Acting Chief Executive Officer at Cricket South Africa: "The decision to cancel the 2021 edition of the MSL is meant to allow CSA and its strategic partners to revamp and review the tournament post-Covid-19 to regain its market and commercial position. For its purposes, the MSL slot will again be replaced by a domestic CSA T20 Challenge, featuring the 8 (eight) Division 1 teams and this tournament will take place in February 2022."
( With inputs from ANI )
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