Raphael Edwards has resigned as CEO of the Cape Town Tigers, also vacating his position as a director, the club announced on Wednesday, as they withdrew from the Basketball South Africa (BSA) National Club Championships,
As a result of withdrawing from the domestic championship, the club has essentially forfeited their eligibility to qualify for the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
The announcement came amid scrutiny from the BAL over alleged discrepancies in the club's financial reporting to the league.
"The board of the Cape Town Tigers (Pty) Ltd ("CTT") announces that they will unfortunately not participate in this year's Basketball South Africa Club Championship," said the Tigers press release.
"As the former South African Champion three years in a row, this decision was not taken lightly, but with the best interest of the CTT team. The board remain [sic] committed to the future development of basketball, not only in Cape Town, but nationally and look [sic] forward to future participation in the Club Championship."
The club confirmed Edwards' departure as CEO and a director and thanked him for his "service and dedication to the team".
When asked if the Tigers had any immediate plans to replace Edwards as CEO, club director Lari Kangas said that they were more focused on building from the ground up again than deciding on titles for management.
He told ESPN: "We don't need to think of corporate titles for now. There's a saying in the startup world, going back to the garage. That's what we're doing."
The Tigers are currently the only South African club to have played in the BAL, but the winner of this year's BSA National Club Championships will, as per league rules, be the only team from the country eligible to qualify for next year's tournament.
Edwards' tenure in charge was marked by unprecedented success for the Tigers on the court, but hampered by allegations of misconduct off it. The Tigers made the BAL quarter-finals in 2022 and 2023 and the semi-finals in 2024.
Multiple players, investors and staff members involved across the Tigers' three BAL seasons have accused Edwards of breaching contracts and failing to make payments timeously.
Among them were Pieter Prinsloo and Liam Reid, who both played for the Tigers during the 2022 and 2023 BAL seasons - as well as Raphiael Putney and Chris Gabriel, who have featured in qualifying campaigns under the administration of FIBA.
Basketball's global governing body partners with the NBA to organize the BAL. Edwards denies allegations from all four.
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