Mark Keohane, the Springbok rugby media liaison, quit on Tuesday, saying he could not be part of a squad that tolerated prejudice.
Keohane’s resignation comes just days after the World Cup squad was threatened by a race scandal and amid calls for the sacking of SA Rugby managing director Rian Oberholzer.
Oberholzer raised the ire of a number of provinces after he ordered the expulsion of Geo Cronje from the World Cup training squad.
Cronje was accused of racism, but on Saturday was found not guilty by a two-man South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) investigation.
The Sarfu executive will meet in Cape Town on Tuesday to discuss the fallout over the Cronje affair.
While some provincial presidents are apparently calling for Oberholzer’s resignation, Keohane offered his support to the troubled Oberholzer in a lengthy statement.
In the statement Keohane, a former journalist who once famously applied for the Springbok coaching position, said he was insulted that his loyalty to the Springboks was questioned and that he may have leaked the Cronje incident to the media.
”My decision to resign is a moral one as I can no longer be part of a squad in which prejudice is tolerated, wished away and excused,” he said.
”I want to place on record my disgust at the media accusations directed at … Oberholzer and the ill-informed condemnation of his decision to remove Geo Cronje from the Springbok training squad.”
Keohane also felt that he could not continue working with the Springbok management.
”Following discussions with the Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli and Springbok manager Gideon Sam, I feel that all trust has been broken down and that irreparable damage has been done to our professional relationship.”
The initial furore erupted last Thursday when it was reported that Cronje, a white lock from the Bulls, had allegedly refused to share a room or bathroom with Quinton Davids, a black lock from Western Province.
Although Cronje was later found not guilty, neither he nor Davids was selected for Straeuli’s World Cup squad announced on Saturday. — Sapa