Games ultimatum by Mr Ordia

Press, 23 May 1977, Page 6

Games ultimatum by Mr Ordia

PA Auckland Unless there is a dramatic change in the policy of the New Zealand Government towards sports relationships with South Africa, none of the 14 black African Commonwealth countries will compete in the Commonwealth Games at Edmonton next year.

This is made plain by the president of the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa (Mr Abraham Ordia) in a letter from Lagos to the Auckland rugby writer, T. P. McLean.

In cuttings sent by Mr Ordia from African Englishlanguage newspapers, it is announced that Nigeria has withdrawn from the inter-

national squash tournament which will be held in Canada in September.

The decision was made after the Nigerian association had learned from the secretary of the international committee in Ontario (Mr lan Stewart) that New Zealand intended to compete. A clipping bearing ■ the heading “No romance with racists” said that the Amateur Athletic Association of Nigeria had made representations to the International Amateur Athletic. Federation about the forthcoming world championship tournament, which will be held at Dusseldorf in September. For the tournament, the world has been divided into eight continental zones.

Oceania includes Australia and New Zealand.

The Nigerian association has advised the international federation that if New Zealanders were allowed to compete in the Oceania team, Nigeria wished to be excluded.

“Our position is unchanged,” Mr Ordia wrote. “We are not fighting the New Zealand people. We are fighting a cause.” Mr Ordia’s letter was prompted by the publication in - the “New Zealand Herald” on April 5 of a telephone interview Mr McLean had with the chairman of the New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Mr C. L. S. Cross) in New York.