Register of Sports Contacts with South Africa, 1 January - 30 June 1986

Register of Sports Contacts with South Africa, 1 January - 30 June 1986 http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.nuun1986_24 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Register of Sports Contacts with South Africa, 1 January - 30 June 1986 Alternative title Notes and Documents - United Nations Centre Against ApartheidNo. 24/86 Author/Creator United Nations Centre against Apartheid Publisher United Nations, New York Date 1986-12-00 Resource type Reports Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1986 Source Northwestern University Libraries Description INTRODUCTION. RECENT MANOEUVRES. DEVELOPMENTS INSIDE SOUTH AFRICA. SOUTH AFRICAN GAMES. NEW ZEALAND "REBEL" RUGBY TOUR. INTERNATIONAL ACTION. COLLABORATORS COME UNDER ATTACK. DELETIONS FROM THE REGISTER. LIST OF SPORTS EXCHANGES WITH SOUTH AFRICA 1 January-30 June 1986. REGISTER OF SPORTSMEN AND WOMEN WHO PARTICIPATED IN SPORTSEVENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA FROM 1 JANUARY TO 30 JUNE 1986. Format extent 33 page(s) (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.nuun1986_24 http://www.aluka.org UNITED NATIONS UNITED NATIONS CENTRE AGAINST APARTHEID NOTES AND DOCUMENTS* '7-,U~ December 1986 24/86 OcT- 5S REGISTER OF SPORTS CONTACTS WITH SOUTH AFRICA 1 January - 30 June 1986 [Note: Pursuant to a decision of the Special Committee against apartheid in 1980, the Centre against Apartheid has been publishing semi-annual registers of sports contacts with South Africa. The present register contains: (a) A list of sports exchanges with South Africa arranged by code of sports; (b) A list of sportsmen and sportswomen who participated in sport events in South Africa, arranged by country. Persons who undertake not to engage in further sports events in South Africa will have their names deleted from the register.] *All material in these Notes and Documents may be freely reprinted. Acknowledgement, together with a copy of the publication containing the reprint, would be appreciated. United Nations, New York 10017 86-34231 - 2 - INTRODUCTION The Special Committee is determined to promote the international campaign against apartheid in sports. During the period under review, there were positive developments and more sportspersons pledged not to engage in sports contacts with South Africa as long as apartheid persisted. While the Pretoria r4gime and its sports organizations increased their efforts to break growing isolation of South Africa from international sports, many Governments as well as sports organizations world-wide intensified their actions in boycotting apartheid sports. I. RECENT MANOEUVRES In June 1986, it was reported that the r4gime was amending the income tax bill to allow massive rebates to sp6 ors of)sports events that attract overseas competitors. At the second reading of the 1986 income tax bill in the South African Parliament, Mr. Barend du Plessis, the Minister of Finance, said that the bill was the best method of breaking the sports boycott. 1/ According to the bill, the Government would reimburse sponsors a minimum of 90 per cent of their outlay in funding international sports exchanges. Sponsors who funded the recent Australian cricket and New Zealand rugby rebel tours and the visit of a gymnastics team from the United States of America would benefit under the bill. 2/ Mr. Bill Hayden, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia, said that by subsidizing the Australian rebel cricket tour to an estimated amount of £1.5 million, the apartheid r4gime had exploded the myth that sports in South Africa were non-political. 3/ II. DEVELOPMENTS INSIDE SOUTH AFRICA It is well known that most blacks are forced to use primitive facilities in the townships, while their white counterparts have the use of ultra-modern gymnasiums. The black newspaper, Sowetan, accused the white South African Boxing Board of Control of racial bias. It states: "The time has arrived for blacks to go it alone - start their own boards that will control boxing with black leadership. The time when black fighters should look up at the present boards with some paternalism should be relegated to the past. Raw deals by white officials have become the feature of our lives so much we tend to take some of the things we can do for ourselves for granted. Boxing boards controlled by blacks are the answer." 4/ Black clubs playing in so-called integrated football (soccer) leagues are forced to play their matches in the township grounds. Moves to play their matches in stadiums, which have better facilities and can accommodate more spectators, are always blocked by white town councils. -3- In February 1986, a black football team playing in a government-recognized league was refused permission to use the Free State Stadium by the Bloemfontein City Council. The manager of the football club, Celtic, said this-was "naked racism". 5/ In the same month, the Pretoria City Council refused permission for a local football club to use its municipal stadium on the ground that professional football was not allowed to be played at the stadium. However, the city's opposition party leader pointed out that there was a clause in the lease between the football authorities and the city council that "non-white" players might only use the stadium with the permission of the Administrator of the Province of Transvaal. The opposition party leader also added that he had been told that the real purpose behind the refusal was that "they don't want blacks" in the area. 6/ One of South Africa's black bodybuilders who co-operated with the apartheid system in the hope of obtaining international competition said: "Physical fitness has been one of the most elusive things for black bodybuilders. The disparity in wages or salaries earned by a black bodybuilder - as opposed to his white counterpart - has made it virtually impossible to buy the expensive supplementary proteins. "Scarcity of sponsorship in this regard has also compounded the problem. I do not remember an individually sponsored black bodybuilder in the last five years." 7/ Following the declaration of the state of emergency, South Africa's Security Police imprisoned Rev. Arnold Stofile, President of the anti-apartheid Victoria East Rugby Union, Cape Province. Rev. Stofile had played a leading role in providing evidence to the New Zealand High Court, which prevented the 1985 New Zealand rugby team from touring South Africa. The security police used the emergency laws to imprison several sports officials who were prominent in withstanding pressures to be affiliated with government-recognized sports organizations. III. SOUTH AFRICAN GAMES The South African Games, held at Johannesburg in April 1986, failed to attract black sportsmen. Regrettably, a number of overseas participants took part in gymnastics, tennis, squash, water-skiing and badminton events; and almost all the participants in a rugby match were from New Zealand. Many players from other countries withdrew after being warned by their national associations. IV. NEW ZEALAND "REBEL" RUGBY TOUR Following the massive financial outlay that brought an Australian "rebel" cricket team to South Africa in 1985, a similar attempt was made in April 1986 and a team of New Zealand rugby players was induced to play in South Africa. - 4 - The main sponsor was the South African telephone directory company, Yellow Pages. South Africa's new tax laws make it possible for the whole sponsorship fund to be recouped from the Government yet a substantial amount is reported to have been advanced by the .,vernment. 8/ The tour did not receive the approval of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) and none of the players received clearance to play in any of the games. The players were suspended from selection for two international matches. The Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group, which was in South Africa at the time, noted: "On the arrival of a 'rebel' New Zealand rugby team, a Rugby Board official was reported as exulting that rugby had 'changed the face of South Africa' by driving Nelson Mandela from the front page on to page six. As 'white' South Africa basked in the illusion of an imagined international respectability, the death toll continued to mount unabated in the townships and in the 'homelands'. the response of whites to the presence of overseas sportsmen - whether representative or not - brought home to us the impact and importance of the international sports boycott, of which the Gleneagles Agreement is a vital part. The lengths to which the South African authorities are prepared to go in elevating the importance of visiting teams, and the huge financial inducements they offer, reveal their craving for supposedly international recognition." 9/ The anti-apartheid South African Rugby Union (SARU) said: "It is sickening to note that the arrangements for the tour were concluded by means of intrigue, secrecy, deception and with callous disregard for the feelings and political realities of the oppressed people of south Africa." 10/ V.

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