South Africa pin blame for Adelaide Airport fracas on Australian media

On Monday, Channel Nine reporter Will Crouch was pushed away by two South African staffers when he approached Faf du Plessis for a comment regarding the ball tampering charge the Proteas skipper is facing.

Crouch dropped his microphone after being pushed and responded by pushing the two South African staffers back to recover his equipment. He was then shouldered in the back by South African security man Zunaid Wadee, who later pinned the reporter to a wall as the team made its exit.

The incident drew the ire of South African veteran Hashim Amla, who tweeted: “Disappointed.. such provocative behaviour from reporters.Let a man walk in peace.Ask with manners n courtesy and u prob will get a response.” (sic)

This is the second time Wadee has had a run-in with a Channel Nine reporter in the space of three days. Despite this South African manager Dr Mohammed Moosajee insists the blame lies with the television network, criticising Crouch for approaching the team with an “unknown object” and being at the airport without accreditation.

The only object Crouch is seen holding in vision of the incident is a microphone and official accreditation is not needed at an airport.

“The ‘reporter’ at the airport disrespected us and continued to harass Faf for comment.” Moosajee said in a press release. “The ‘reporter’ was also in the unusual position of being in the middle of the players’ walkway to the bus. He was advised to move three times, and did not adhere to this request.

“The ‘reporter’, who also had no official accreditation, then proceeded to lunge towards Faf with an unknown object causing a direct breach of security protocol. The reporter also shoved the team manager in the back.

“Throughout the tour we have respected all our media obligations and treated media with utmost respect. At the same time, we would like to see this respect reciprocated and will not accept such behaviour as displayed by the Channel 9 News reporter.”