NOTES AND DOCUMENTS* NOTES AND DOCUMENTS* December 1982 I * 19S3 REGISTER OF SPORTS CONL]TCS WITH SOUTH AFRICA* 1 January - 30 June 1982 /f__: Pursuant to a decision in 1980, the Special Committee against Apartheid has been publishing periodic registers of sports contacts with South Africa. The first register, published on 15 May 1981 covered the period from 1 Septener 1980 to 31 March 1981. The second register, published on 1 March 1982, covered the period from 1 April to 31 December 1981. The present register covers the period from 1 January to 30 June 1982. The "register" contains two lists: (a) A list of sports exchanges with South Africa arranged by the code of sport; (b) A list of sportsmen and sportswomen who participated in sports events in South Africa, arranged by country] * All material in these notes and documents may be treeiy reprinted. Acknowledgement, together with a copy of the publication containing the reprint, would be appreciated. No. 20/82 83-0669 -i - Introduction The movement for the boycott of apartheid sport has registered further advances in 1982. Several prominent sportsmen have rejected offers of enormous fees to play in South Africa and thereby demonstrated their attachment to the Olympic principle of non-discrimination. The registers of sports contacts with South Africa, published by the Special Committee, and appeals by the Special Committee and anti-apartheid groups, have helped dissuade a number of sportsmen and sports bodies from exchanges with South Africa. * The apartheid regime and its sports bodies have attempted to counter the growing isolation through secret deals to entice individual sportsmen by offers of exorbitant fees or prize money. But these deals only provoked stronger opposition in South Africa and abroad. The enticement of a team of British cricket players in March 1982, led to wide protests in the United Kingdom and other countries. The Test and County Cricket Board was obliged to take action against the players. Similarly, the enticement of a team of international football players in July 1982 proved to be abortive. Several players withdrew from the team following warnings by the international football federation, while three major football leagues in South Africa withdrew from contests in response to demands by black community organizations. These events, however, emphasize the need for continued vigilance to thwart the manoeuvres of the apartheid regime, and for intensified co-operation between organizations of the oppressed people in South Africa and the governments and organizations committed to solidarity with their legitimate struggle. The list of sports exchanges recorded in this Register shows that teams and individuals from the United Kingdom and the United States of America continue as the main violators of the boycott and of relevant United Nations resolutions. * For instance, only eleven overseas players participated in 1982 in the South African tennis championships which normally attract about forty overseas players. - ii - Progress in the boycott of apartheid sport A number of countries, sports bodies and individuals have rejected sports contacts with South Africa. In March 1982, the Government of Canada announced a stricter policy on sports contacts with South Africa to underline its commitment to the Gleneagles Agreement. The Government of Sweden announced in July 1982 that anyone considered to be representing the South African government and its apartheid policies would be barred from participating in sports events in Sweden. In August, the Netherlands Government informed Dutch sports organizations that in the opinion of the government, they should not only desist from sporting contact with South Africa, but should not participate in any sporting fixture in which a South African delegation, in whatever capacity, also takes part. The Commonwealth Games Federation, at its meeting in Brisbane in October, amended its Constitution, to provide for the suspension of any country which continues to have sporting relations with South Africa. Some of the other relevant developments were as follows: In February 1982, the Government of Denmark denied visas to South African tennis players who intended to participate in the "Danish Indoor Championship 1982". In March 1982, following strong protests by Nigeria, the authorities in Hong Kong called on a visiting South African hockey team, Flamingo Club, to abandon its attempt to play there and barred them from using any goverment sports facilities. The Hong Kong Hockey Association told its members not to play South Africans. The South African team was obliged to terminate its tour. In May 1982, following appeals by the Special Committee and others, the Harlem Globetrotters, New York, cancelled its proposed visit to South Africa. In June, Canadian teams withdrew from the 1982 Henley Royal Regatta in London in conformity with Canadian Government policy. Mr. Peter Coni, chairman of the regatta committee in London, had insisted that the South Africans would not be asked to withdraw. The Zimbabwe clay-pigeon shooting team withdrew from the World Sporting Championships in Villeneuve, France, in July, due to the presence of a South African team. Also in July, the Australian Professional Surfing Association withdrew its team from surfing championships in Durban, South Africa. - iii - Mr. Sydney Maree, black South African athlete, who now runs in the colours of the United States Amateur Athletic Union, encountered protests by the Africa Groups in Sweden because of his advocacy of sporting links with South Africa. Mr. Paul Hartstone, a leading New Zealand amateur golfer, announced that he would not play in the Eisenhower world teams amateur golf tournament, to be held in Switzerland in September 1982, as South Africans had been invited. Efforts by South Africa to entice sportsmen To counter the isolation, the apartheid sports bodies and their collaborators resorted to secret deals to entice sportsmen with exorbitant fees. In March 1982, fifteen leading British cricketers arrived in South Africa to play a series of matches. Press reports disclosed that they had been offered fees ranging from £30,000 to £50,000 and even higher. The British Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) appealed to them not to go to South Africa, warning them of negative consequences, particularly the possibility of cancellation of cricket tours of the United Kingdom by the Indian and Pakistan national teams, scheduled for the 1982 cricket season. It pointed out that the cancellation of the tours would have crippling financial effects on clubs and, hence, on cricket players. But they ignored the warnings. The defiance of these cricketers outraged public opinion in the United Kingdom and led to international protests. Cricket authorities of India and Pakistan warned the British cricket authorities that participation by any of those cricketers in the British teams would result in the cancellation of the tour. The Governments of Barbados and Jamaica announced that they would not allow any of the players to enter their countries to participate in cricket or in any other kind of sport. Mr. Paul Stephenson resigned from the British Sports Council, in protest against the unwillingness of the United Kingdom Government to take effective action to prevent the tour. As a result, the British Test and County Cricket Board decided to suspend the 15 cricketers from the Tests for three years, and advised county teams not to include them in matches against India and Pakistan. The county teams were also obliged by public pressure to exclude South Africans in their clubs from the fixtures. * * Mr. Clive Rice, a South African, was obliged to withdraw from the Nottinghamshire county team which played the touring Indian national cricket team in May. Three members of the Kent County team - Messrs. Bob Woolmer, Derek Underwood and Aljii Knott of South Africa - were not allowed to participate in the match against the Indian team. - iv - More recently, South Africa has enticed a number of other sportsmen in rugby and football - to play in South Africa. On July 12, 1982, the so-called Five-Nations rugby team from France, Ireland and the United Kingdom arrived in South Africa for a three-week tour. The team was also accompanied by 45 rugby administrators with their wives, including Albert Ferrasse, John Smity, George Thomson, Jimmy Nelson and Hermes Evans, presidents of the French, English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish rugby football unions respectively; John Hart, secretary of the International Rugby Board (IRB); and Harry McKibbon, Ronnie Dawson and Albert Agar, members of the IRB. All expenses were paid by South Africa. It was reported that the wives of rugby officials were presented with expensive necklaces. Also in July, the Football Council of South Africa arranged for a tour of South Africa by a number of well-known football players. It was reported that the players were enticed by appearance fees ranging from R100,000 to R250,000. The Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) warned that "if any player from any FIFA country joins the tour, he will be suspended". Three major players - two Argentinians and a Brazilian - withdrew from the tour before it officially started, under pressure from their respective associations, and. the team was composed only of British players and a Belgian. The three most prominent black South African football teams - Kaiser Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Moroka Swallows - decided, in response to demands by.black community organizations, not to play against the touring team. * The tour had to be cut short at great financial loss to the organizers. It was subsequently reported that the Security Police of the apartheid regime had begun an investigation to intimidate the opponents of the tour. * The campaign against the tour had been supported by the following organizations: Soweto Committee of Ten, Azanian Peoples' Organization (AZAPO), Soweto Civic Association, South African Council of Churches, Aranian Students' Organization, Azanian National Youth Unity, General and Allied Workers' Union, Congress of South African Students, Black Lawyers' Association, and the Municipal and General Workers' Union.