Durban — The South African Rugby Union has wielded the big stick against the president of the Eastern Province Rugby Union, Maasdorp Cannon, who allegedly made inflammatory criticism of Saru at the funeral of a former player.
Cannon has been suspended for two years from holding any position or participating in any rugby structures under the auspices of Saru after having been found guilty of contravening the Saru Constitution and its Code of Conduct.
A video of Cannon speaking at the funeral of Godfrey Thorn, who died in February 2022, went viral. Cannon is heard saying: “Stand up in the name of Godfrey, stand up. My plea is that we must turn the South African rugby landscape upside down. I did not come back to support the South African rugby establishment, because it is still very much racist.
“I know there are people who are happy to support the apartheid emblem, the racist emblem – the Springbok. My argument is, that emblem is equal to that flag that was waved when we made a compromise in 1995. It has the same expression; it’s racist.”
Cannon was called to appear before an independent judicial committee on six charges relating to the speech. These included his description of Saru as being a racist organisation; its leadership as “selling-out” Saru; and that the Springbok was a racist emblem.
The comments were subsequently published in social media and mainstream media.
The three-person Judicial Committee ruled that Mr Cannon had clearly contravened the Saru Constitution and the Saru Code of Conduct with the intent to bring Saru into disrepute and was found guilty on those charges.
Cannon has 15 days in which to appeal the sentence.
IOL Sport
