Dr Craven’s silence criticised

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32460, 21 November 1970, Page 18

Dr Craven’s silence criticised

Christchurch C.A.R.E. had noted the arrival in New Zealand of Dr D. H. Craven, president of the South African Rugby Board, and his unwillingness to discuss what he called politics and the proposed 1973 Rugby tour of New Zealand, said the vice-chairman (Mr R. H. T. Thompson) in a supplied statement. : “Generally in South African sport, a strong colourbar is raised between white and non-white. Nowhere is this so apparent as in Dr Craven’s own organisation,” said Mr Thompson.

“White administrators find it convenient to regard this colour-bar as non-political, simply one of the customs of the country, and describe any attempts to remove it as the intrusion of politics into sport,” he said. “A significant number of non-white South African sportsmen see apartheid in sport, and the white monopoly of national colours, as obviously political and part of systematic racial discrimination. “According to Dr Craven and his colleagues, not to conform to South African race customs is to introduce politics into sport. “It is interesting to note how many New Zealand sports administrators have been converted to the South African viewpoint,” Mr Thompson said. But outside South Africa, the feeling internationally was that all men, irrespective of race, colour or creed, had the right to compete if they were good enough. Not only that, they haa to be given the chance to become good enough. This was the

I internationally-accepted cus- : tom in sport. , “If non-conformity to ' sporting custom is to intro- : duce politics into sport, then Dr Craven should surely be the first to agree that in international competition at least, South African Rugby teams should conform to international sporting custom.” said Mr Thompson. This would mean that Springbok teams would be open to players regardless of race, and would compete against other Rugby-playing countries regardless of race. To argue that an exception to international custom should be made in South Africa’s case was on Dr Craven’s own showing, to introduce South African politics into sport, he said. “Dr Craven’s verbal subtleties aside, race discrimination in sport as practised by the South African Rugby Board is to many New Zealanders, and probably to most of the rest of the world, incompatible with good sportsmanship,” said Mr! Thompson.