Johannesburg, April 27

Suspended cricket boss Gerald Majola and former operations chief Don McIntosh must repay $400,000 in bonuses they awarded themselves for staging international tournaments, the sports minister said.

Majola received 1.7 million rands ($218,000, 165,000 euros) while McIntosh got 1.4 million rands in bonuses that were not approved by Cricket South Africa.

Their giant paychecks accounted for about two-thirds of the $600,000 in bonuses wrongfully awarded to CSA employees after South Africa staged the 2009 Indian Premier League (IPL) and ICC Champions Trophy.

"The money will only be recovered from top management who received bonuses unlawfully." sports minister Fikile Mbalula
said late Thursday, after meeting with the CSA
board, according to the Sapa news agency.

The board has already suspended Majola for one year and is undertaking an overhaul of its governing structures to avoid a repeat of the scandal that has damaged cricket’s image in South Africa.

The IPL tournament dates clashed with those of elections in India three years ago, raising security concerns and forcing the Twenty20 event to be switched to
South Africa.