‘Selective morality’

Press, 31 March 1981, Page 2

‘Selective morality’

PA Wellington The president of the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa, Mr Abraham Ordia, has been accused of suffering from “a kind of conveniently selective morality” by the Minister of Police and Maori Affairs (Mr Couch). Mr Couch said yesterday that Mr Ordia wished to punish all New Zealanders because some had invited South African sportsmen to play in their country.

. He referred to a statement by Mr Ordia that sports bodies were autonomous, but said that Mr Ordia had also insisted that sports bodies do what their Government wished. “This a definition of auto-

nomy that we don’t recognise in a democratic country,” Mr Couch said. “If autonomy does not mean freedom to make decisions, what does it mean? Mr Ordia’s definition, apparently, makes no distinction between autonomy and dictatorship. ? “Any threat to > punish other sportsmen and women for what one sport does is seen in New Zealand to be unjust. In a democracy, we do not blindly take revenge on the innocent for what we consider to be the sins of the guilty. “But then, our main sport in New Zealand is rugby, not revolution,” Mr Couch said. “Mr Ordia’s Supreme

Council for Sport in Africa might do better to concentrate on its main task of staging the All-Africa Games, now reported to be on the verge of yet another postponement because Kenya cannot organise them. The Commonwealth Games, by contrast, has a waiting list of countries ready and eager to host them each time.” If the All-Africa Games were finally organised, it was to be hoped that they would be on a non-racial basis, Mr Couch said. That would give other countries an equal chance to try a little “whitemail” and boycott the Games because there were countries entering whose policies were not agreed with.