The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
England delay flight to Zimbabwe
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Cricket board officials have asked if the Zimbabwe government media block makes it acceptable to pull out. Chairman David Morgan, in Harare trying to get the block reversed, ordered the team to stay in Johannesburg. "We're doing everything in our power to get that ban overturned," said ECB spokesman Andrew Walpole. "We're talking to the ICC, we're talking to the ZCU, and we will continue to talk to the Zimbabwe authorities as well in the morning." A five-match one-day series is due to start on Friday but England could decide to pull out of the tour on Thursday. The Zimbabwe government has denied 13 of 36 applications for media accreditation, including those from the BBC, the Times, Telegraph, Sun, Mirror and their Sunday versions. International Cricket Council rules do not demand universal access for foreign media. But ICC president Ehsan Mani hinted England could pull out without penalty. He said any decision would come down to a vote by the leading cricket nations. But he added that the counties making up the ICC executive board have "a huge amount of sympathy for the ECB (after) the way this matter has been handled by the government in Zimbabwe". Mani told BBC Five Live no player could directly be punished for pulling out but stressed a decision on the tour was down to the ECB.
Richard Bevan, chairman of the Professional Cricketers Association, said politics was being brought into cricket and the players were now at the centre of it. He told BBC Radio Five Live: "A ban on key organisations like the BBC, the Telegraph and The Times is obviously beginning to use the players as political pawns." The Zimbabwean Charge d'Affaires has been summoned to the British foreign office and the British embassy in Harare is also making representations. British foreign office minister Denis MacShane spoke of "deep concern that the government of Zimbabwe has denied access to British journalists". Sports Minister Richard Caborn added his voice to the growing wave of criticism, saying: "It is totally unacceptable to ban English journalists from entering Zimbabwe." George Charamba, secretary to Zimbabwe's information minister, defended the stance. "Bona fide media organisations in the UK have been cleared but those that are political have not," he said. "This is a game of cricket, not politics." |
Should England cricket tour go ahead? | |||||||||
The England cricket authorities have asked the International Cricket Council whether Zimbabwe's decision to ban several British journalists is grounds to cancel the team's five-match tour. The Foreign Office has expressed "deep concern" that many British media organisations, including the BBC, have been denied accreditation by the government in Harare. The team will stay in South Africa, with the five-match one-day series due to start on Friday. Should the tour go ahead? What's your reaction to the crisis? Who should decide if the tour goes ahead? Send us your view.
The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:
WE live in a free country and we should not ban our cricketers from going to
Zimbabwe if they choose to do so. But hats off to the ones that didn't
go. I think it is sad that it has been left to a bunch of cricketers to make as
stand against such a venal dictator. If the boycott goes ahead, the players
deserve the whole country's support. The Blair government should be ashamed- so
much for their much vaunted commitment to Africa. Anything, anything, anything to put the world's media spotlight on what was
once a successful, prosperous country. Lets get rid of that despot dictator at
last.
There should never have been any question of the tour taking place. The
government should have supported the ECB, to the extent of covering financial
penalties, in the event of the case against any such failing. David Morgan, the ECB and the Government have shown themselves to be
spineless. This tour should not proceed against the background of what is
happening in Zimbabwe. Mugabe's regime is showing its true colours by barring
foreign Press. Steve Harmison has a conscience, unlike the rest of the team, including the
captain. This tour is a profound insult to the starving and repressed in
Zimbabwe. My brother was in Zimbabwe during the last cricket tours. He went to a game
and had a great day and couldn't see what all the fuss was about. After the
match he watched another Zimbabwe sport, that of beating people who disagree
with a racist, hard-line, self interested dictator. Don't let us be associated
with that. I think that England should play despite the government bullying. We are
proud that Mugabe dares stand up to the government sponsored propaganda machine
of the BBC. Print that if you are so free!
The tour should never have been considered from the outset. Once again money
has come before morals. The ECB should show some backbone and call off
immediately. Morgan has shown himself to be totally incapable of leading the ECB in this
matter and should resign. He is quite out of his depth and has lost the
confidence of many cricket fans. ICC should now call off the tour. How can England as a country condone the behaviour of a corrupt megalomaniac
who controls everything in his country - from the press to international aid -
with an iron fist? The tour should not go ahead. Furthermore, Britain should cut off all ties
with Zimbabwe forthwith. Where are Blair and Bush when it comes to tackling the
many thugs and dictators who rule the roost in Africa? It should never have taken place in the first place. It's not right that
politics be ignored for the sake of sport. There are terrible atrocities
happening in Zimbabwe that cannot be overlooked, and if we do, then we are
giving out a message that we don't care.
This tour should not have taken place in the first place. We should never
participate with a country that has a terrible record on human rights. The
pathetic ICC & ECB pass the buck each time. They have not got the guts to
say no to this tour. Absolutely not! Mugabe's regime is non democratic and composed of racist
thugs. They should not be condoned in any way. The UK government has shown itself to be completely gutless over this issue.
Leaving the ECB to have to make the decision is a mockery of their supposedly
ethical foreign policy. This trip should not go ahead. |