Derek Wyatt: The cricketing world must boycott Zimbabwe

By staging World Cup games in Zimbabwe, the ICC is condoning the actions of the Mugabe regime

In an earlier life, as Barrie Fairhall so elegantly put it in an article, I "once played rugby for England". From the 1960s through to the 1980s, few rugby players refused a trip to South Africa. John Taylor, the Welsh and British Lions flanker was one. In cricket, many more refused, including Ian Botham and Viv Richards. Ian felt particularly strongly about not playing sport in a country where apartheid was so disgustingly practiced. Sadly, that did not stop unofficial tours.

Things happened in rugby in the mid 1980s which I think have lessons for the forthcoming Cricket World Cup, in particular the games to be played in Zimbabwe, which the International Cricket Council yesterday ruled could go ahead. One was a case heard in the Wellington courts one Saturday morning where two rugby players, Paddy Finnigan and Phillip Recordon, brought a case against the New Zealand Rugby Football Union. Their belief was that the NZRFU was acting unconstitutionally in accepting an invitation to tour South Africa. As the Maori members of previous tours to South Africa had had to be given official "white"status, it was surprising that the NZRFU was so far behind its own public opinion, which wanted the tour cancelled.

The judge, when giving his verdict, slowly veered each way, but eventually found against the NZRFU. Pandemonium broke out. As the decision was passed back from the court to the 10,000 people waiting outside, the earth shook with joy.

It is interesting to note how little this case was reported in the UK media at the time. Fortuitously, I was friends with veteran anti-apartheid campaigner, Archbishop Trevor Huddleston. I asked him whether the anti-apartheid movement would consider setting up a sub-committee comprising leading sports journalists such as Ron Pickering, and players such as Peter Roebuck, Mike Brearley and myself to advise them on how to use the sports media to publicise any campaign to prevent sporting contacts with South Africa.

From these discussions was borne the Campaign for Fair Play; a campaign to stop the British Lions tour to South Africa in 1986. With the help and advice of Neil Kinnock, then leader of the Labour Party, as well as other Labour MPs who occasionally doubled as QCs, we built our case on the twin pillars of publicity and the threat of legal action.

British rugby's four home unions had rather flaky constitutions, and we spotted that one of the aims of the RFU went something like "to further the cause of the game". That was enough for us to mount the challenge. In the end, the tour was cancelled. To this day, I do not know why. My guess is that the four unions, acting either independently or together, had also asked their QCs for an opinion. Anyway, we claimed some of the credit, and I noticed a tightening of the aims and objectives in the constitution of rugby unions across the world.

Ten years ago I asked Nelson Mandela what sustained him in prison, and he replied that it was knowing there was an army of people out there working to stop trade and sport and cultural events happening in South Africa. He recognised the short-term anguish for his people, but he always saw the long-term gain. And what a gain.

Today, I am asking why the International Cricket Council wants to continue with its plans to stage games in next year's World Cup in Zimbabwe. They should move the games elsewhere. Today, I am launching version 1.1 of the Campaign for Fair Play, and I am calling on all sportsmen and women to write to the ICC, as well as their own cricket authorities, to ask them not to play in Zimbabwe.

My reasons are simple. Robert Mugabe is running the nastiest regime imaginable. We should do all we can to bring his discredited government down. It's not asking much. A boycott of any sporting or cultural ties would be a start. A boycott of Zimbabwean goods would be another. Pressure on British Airways not to fly there and pressure on the City to stop its banking arrangements would also help.

But first things first. Zimbabwe needs cash. The only way it can raise it is by way of its tourist industry and, indirectly, through the cost each of us has to pay for a visa as well as the airport tax. A global campaign to stop people going there will hurt him most.

The ICC should join us and change its mind. By staging World Cup games in Zimbabwe it is condoning the actions of the regime. Sport doesn't live in some bubble, separate from reality. Sport is the most unifying activity in any culture. Look at the impact that the football World Cup had, not just on Japan and South Korea, but on the billions of people who watched it. It was truly wonderful. Closer to home, Manchester touched our hearts with its sensational Commonwealth Games. More countries belong to both the IOC and Fifa than do the UNO or the IMF. Come on, ICC, don't bury your head in the sand; offer leadership to the sporting world.

This movement will be an all-party campaign. Already Bob Walter (Conservative, North Dorset), Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat, North Devon), and Steve Ladyman (Labour, Thanet South) have joined the campaign and offered their support. You can join too. Please e-mail me.

wyattd@parliament.uk

The writer is the Labour MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, and a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee