A prominent member of Zimbabwe's opposition has urged New Zealand cricketers not to tour his country:
Professor Ncube, once tried for treason by Mugabe, said sportsmen could not simply ignore what was happening in his country."It is a moral choice. The grave suffering is managed by a group of individuals who are running a criminal state to enrich themselves and to continue to oppress others.
"They should make that moral choice that they will not do anything which might be remotely conceived as supporting the regime."
How much clearer can it be? The Black Caps should not be touring Zimbabwe. And while the government cannot ban them from doing so, it could make it a lot easier for them to refuse by imdemnifying them against the ICC.
Browsing around the Black Caps website, I also see that the Zimbabwean cricket team is scheduled to tour New Zealand in December and January. They've managed to keep that pretty quiet, haven't they?
5 comments:
Yeah "really quiet", so quiet they put it on the black caps website.....
I hope they tour! Not touring will do absolutely nothing for the problems in Zimbabwe!
Stop using sports for political means, find something pro-active and you might make a difference!
To try and force the black caps not to go (which greenies will do) is just another lame excuse for a bit of back patting!
Posted by Anonymous : 6/18/2005 06:13:00 PM
that tour will go down like a ton of bricks dont you think. Its like Apatheid South Africa touring.
> Not touring will do absolutely nothing for the problems in Zimbabwe!
What exactly will make a difference?
Posted by Genius : 6/19/2005 10:47:00 AM
There is a list, which is to be found here of associates of Robert Mugabe who are not allowed to visit New Zealand.
Given that all the Mugabe opponents have been expelled from the team or the country, it might not be a bad idea to add the cricket squad to this list - or as I've suggested before, ban all non-humanitarian commerce with Zimbabwe.
Posted by Rich : 6/19/2005 05:50:00 PM
To Sector 7g:
It's kind of difficult to "stop using sports for political means" when President Mugabe is the head of the Zimbabwe Cricket Board, and when he actively uses these tours to advance his own political cause.
Sport and politics are linked. Sport is used for political means all over the world. To think otherwise is to kid oneself. And to eschew using sports for political means achieves nothing other than opening the way for the other side (in this case) to use sports for other political means unchallenged.
Posted by Anonymous : 6/20/2005 08:45:00 AM
Sorry, that should have read "(in this case Mugabe)"
My bad.
Posted by Anonymous : 6/20/2005 08:47:00 AM
Post a Comment
(Anonymous comments are enabled).