Behind Enemy Lines
Well-known member
At long last, a politician has ruled that some things are more important than cricket in Zimbabwe. I'm not a fan of John Howard but for this I applaud him. The idea that politics and sport don't have a relationship has always been nonsense and now finally, someone has seen sense. Very well played.
This from the BBC.
Aussies pull out of Zimbabwe tour
Mr Howard said Robert Mugabe was a "grubby dictator"
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has ordered the country's cricket team to pull out of a planned tour of Zimbabwe later this year.
He said the tour would be an "enormous propaganda boost" to Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.
The Australian team was due to play three one-day internationals in Zimbabwe in September.
Pressure has been building on the team not to go ahead with the tour to the strife-torn African nation.
Mr Howard said on Australia's ABC television: "The government through the foreign minister has written to Cricket Australia instructing that the tour not go ahead."
He added: "We don't do this lightly."
The prime minister said the government could use its power over the players' passports if Cricket Australia did not abide by his decision.
The Mugabe regime is behaving like the Gestapo towards its political opponents
John Howard
Australian Prime Minister
"Whilst it pains me both as a cricket lover and as somebody who genuinely believes these things should be left to sporting organisations... it leaves me with no alternative."
The head of Cricket Australia, James Sutherland, said the body was committed to help Zimbabwe cricket develop and would now look at holding the matches in a venue outside the country.
The likely venue is South Africa, where a 20-20 World Cup series will be held later in the year.
"We are obliged to do what we can to help Zimbabwe cricketers and we could help them by playing somewhere else," Sutherland said.
"We are discussing with the government where we could play Zimbabwe at a neutral venue."
No penalty
Mr Howard has long been a critic of Mr Mugabe's government but this was his strongest condemnation yet, says the BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney.
"The Mugabe regime is behaving like the Gestapo towards its political opponents," Mr Howard said.
Australia last played Zimbabwe in a World Cup warm-up game
"I have no doubt that if this tour goes ahead it will be an enormous boost to this grubby dictator."
Cricket Australia had been reluctant to cancel its September tour to Zimbabwe because that would have made it liable to pay a minimum $2m fine levied by the sport's international governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC).
However, an ICC statement released before the Australian government forced the cancellation of the tour indicates Cricket Australia would not be fined.
The ICC statement declares that if a government refuses to "grant a consent... for its team to tour another country", that team is exempt from the penalty.
Zimbabwe's ambassador to Australia, Stephen Chiketa, said last week that politics had no place in sport and that banning the tour would hurt the development of cricket in his country.
"You have young players in Zimbabwe who want to emulate great cricket players in Australia," he told Australia's Seven television network.
"Take your politics somewhere else."
This from the BBC.
Aussies pull out of Zimbabwe tour
Mr Howard said Robert Mugabe was a "grubby dictator"
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has ordered the country's cricket team to pull out of a planned tour of Zimbabwe later this year.
He said the tour would be an "enormous propaganda boost" to Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.
The Australian team was due to play three one-day internationals in Zimbabwe in September.
Pressure has been building on the team not to go ahead with the tour to the strife-torn African nation.
Mr Howard said on Australia's ABC television: "The government through the foreign minister has written to Cricket Australia instructing that the tour not go ahead."
He added: "We don't do this lightly."
The prime minister said the government could use its power over the players' passports if Cricket Australia did not abide by his decision.
The Mugabe regime is behaving like the Gestapo towards its political opponents
John Howard
Australian Prime Minister
"Whilst it pains me both as a cricket lover and as somebody who genuinely believes these things should be left to sporting organisations... it leaves me with no alternative."
The head of Cricket Australia, James Sutherland, said the body was committed to help Zimbabwe cricket develop and would now look at holding the matches in a venue outside the country.
The likely venue is South Africa, where a 20-20 World Cup series will be held later in the year.
"We are obliged to do what we can to help Zimbabwe cricketers and we could help them by playing somewhere else," Sutherland said.
"We are discussing with the government where we could play Zimbabwe at a neutral venue."
No penalty
Mr Howard has long been a critic of Mr Mugabe's government but this was his strongest condemnation yet, says the BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney.
"The Mugabe regime is behaving like the Gestapo towards its political opponents," Mr Howard said.
Australia last played Zimbabwe in a World Cup warm-up game
"I have no doubt that if this tour goes ahead it will be an enormous boost to this grubby dictator."
Cricket Australia had been reluctant to cancel its September tour to Zimbabwe because that would have made it liable to pay a minimum $2m fine levied by the sport's international governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC).
However, an ICC statement released before the Australian government forced the cancellation of the tour indicates Cricket Australia would not be fined.
The ICC statement declares that if a government refuses to "grant a consent... for its team to tour another country", that team is exempt from the penalty.
Zimbabwe's ambassador to Australia, Stephen Chiketa, said last week that politics had no place in sport and that banning the tour would hurt the development of cricket in his country.
"You have young players in Zimbabwe who want to emulate great cricket players in Australia," he told Australia's Seven television network.
"Take your politics somewhere else."
Zambia.
