Australia won’t tour Zimbabwe
Australian prime minister John Howard has insisted to Cricket Australia that the proposed tour of Zimbabwe not go ahead on account of the political situation in Zimbabwe under the regime of Robert Mugabe.
However you feel about what is happening in Zimbabwe, it is absolutely right for this decision to be made by a government and not by the sporting body and will hopefully set a precedent for all International sides in the future. This is by no means the first discussion of cancelling tours over concerns about the situation in the host country, but it is the first example I can remember of of a government stepping in and making the decision. I don’t believe that sport should be used to make a political statement which arguably this is, but nevertheless when you have a situation such as that which is going on in Zimbabwe, then it seems to make sense.
The only losers here are the Zimbabwe cricket team, and hopefully all those involved will be able to agree to play the series at a different venue. However, it’s sadly pretty much win-win for Mugabe - if Cricket Australia do not tour Zimbabwe, then they will be liable for £1m in compensation to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union - and knowing how Mugabe operates, it seems unlikely much of that money will actually stay with the ZCU.
Tags: Australia, cricket, International-Cricket, Its-a-Funny-Old-Game, its-just-not-cricket, mugabe, rubbish, zimbabweRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Cricket
2 opinions for Australia won’t tour Zimbabwe
JT
May 14, 2007 at 4:09 am
na Mugabe wont get a cent, the ban is enforced by the Oz Gov, therefore CA dont have to pay any fines
SixandOut
May 14, 2007 at 11:33 am
Actually John, I read that the Aus gov’t had offered to pay the fine…
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