Montserrat withdraws

Press, 25 July 1986, Page 21

Montserrat withdraws

From ROD DEW o in Edinburgh

The tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat has become the thirty-first nation to withdraw from the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games. Two London-based badminton players, Jay Glasford and Stanley White, were to have been joined by one athlete, Stephen Lewis, in Montserrat’s first appearance at a Commonwealth Games.

Glasford and White, whose parents come from the island, arranged for the team to be entered, and have been in the Games Village for some time. They also took part in the rehearsal for the opening ceremony. But a brief telephone call from the president of the Montserrat Commonwealth

Games Federation ended their dreams.

Lewis was stopped on his way from Athens, where he had been competing in another event, and flew directly home.

For Glasford and White the withdrawl of the tiny team has been a disaster. They had to arrange the affiliation of the Montserrat Games body to the Commonwealth Games Federation, and had to set up a badminton association in Montserrat before a team could be entered. The whole organisation took the pair two years and a half to complete.

Glasford and White haven’t packed their bags in the village yet. “Nobody wants us to leave; it is very awkward,” said Glasford. “Of course we would love to stay on and see the Games, but obviously we can’t outstay our welcome. We’ll just pack up quietly and slink back to London.”