L.T.A. forced to postpone tennis event

Press, 6 November 1984, Page 56

L.T.A. forced to postpone tennis event

PA Wellington The New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association has postponed a $lOO,OOO international women’s tournament set down for Auckland in December.

The L.T.A. chairman, Mr lan Wells, said last night the Women’s International Tennis Council had been advised there was no longer time to properly market and promote the event. He was hopeful that the tournament would be staged next year, the centenary of the L.T.A., by which time the Government’s position would be clear. “In due course we hope to clarify that all players who enter the tournament will be allowed to compete and that we conform with international rules which prohibit discrimination against any player,” Mr Wells said in a statement. Two South African players, Jennifer Mundel and Rene Mentz, sought to enter the Auckland tournament, raising the question of whether they would be granted visas to enter New Zealand. At a press conference yesterday, the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, said the

Government’s decision, which would be made this week, would set a precedent in the treatment of individual sports players from South Africa, Michael Hannah reports. Mr Lange said he was not prepared to be stampeded by the L.T.A into making a decision. Lange maintained that no sports players would be allowed to play in New Zealand if they represented South Africa, whether they were professional or amateur. However, the possibility that they could still play in New Zealand, though not under South African labels, was raised at the press conference. When it was suggested that there were no teams or countries at tennis tournaments, Mr Lange replied: “You’ve never seen the scoreboard or the draw, have you, where the word ‘South Africa’ is emblazoned, next to them ‘Australia’ and the

‘United Kingdom’.” He said the Government would “have to think about” whether it assisted the players if this sort of billing was not used. Asked whether he considered the tennis players represented South Africa, Mr Lange said: “If they come here, they don’t.” Mr Lange said the decision had been held over last week because he had not been present, but had had to fly to New Delhi for the funeral of the Indian Prime Minister, Mrs Gandhi. He said his presence at the caucus was “critical to the decision” though he refused to elaborate on this statement. He said he wanted to talk with the people who were principally involved in the matter. The delay was not a stalling technique designed so that the tennis association had to “give the game away,” he said.