…to participate in an innovative International Youth Tournament that involves teams from most of the leading cricket nations. However, theZimbabweteam will be missing because they were refused visas by the British government as their travel arrangements involved flying throughLondon.
Malaysia will fill the vacant space but one has to ask why the hypocrisy given the British government's support of the Olympics in Beijing? There's no dispute that Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe is a tyrant but depriving a bunch of young cricketers the opportunity of playing in an international tournament in the West Indieswill do nothing to topple his ruthless regime. Both the British and the Australian governments have made their views very clear on how they feel about sporting relations with Zimbabwe, but there's plenty of double standards when you enter into the murky world of politics.
China's record for human rights is shocking so it came as no surprise that the anti-China activists would use the symbolic torch-carrying ceremonies across the world to mount their publicity campaigns. Nasty scenes inLondonandParishighlight the depth of anti-China feelings and already many leading politicians are reflecting on their attendance at the Olympics opening ceremony. The British Prime Minister and the German Chancellor have already declined to attend while the presidents ofFranceand theUnited States have yet to make up their minds. It brings back memories of 1980 and the Moscow Olympics, and of the long isolation of South Africathirty years ago because of their apartheid policy.
Many people support an economic boycott of countries with poor human rights records, but cutting off all relations with them is much more controversial. At the height of the South African boycott a number of cricket teams went there and their presence did nothing to help or hinder the political regime because sportspeople genuinely want to keep politics out of sport. But politicians think otherwise and the continuing pomp and ceremony relating to anthems and flags before matches and tournaments means there's always a lot of nationalism on display long before the sporting action kicks in.
Perhaps sporting contact with China might open doors that politicians can't or won't open, and therefore the Beijing Olympics can be justified on the basis that the Chinese people and their government will enter into a new era of human rights and democracy. But who's kidding who as there's no chance of that. All this seems light years away from Under 15 cricket in Barbados so you have to question why visas for these kids from Zimbabwe could not have been provided. They certainly seem to be small fry in this huge debate.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
