Alec Swann: ICC must tackle Zimbabwe issue
At long last. After a lengthy period of time that has seen a once proud nation's cricket team reduced to a very pale shadow of their former incarnations, the British government has decided that Zimbabwe will not be allowed to tour this country next year.
The startling indecision of world cricket's governing body, the ICC, has left the ruling party of this country in the position of having little in the way of choice.
I've made reference to this topic before when it was lurking under the radar, but it has finally been recognised for what it is, namely a gaping open wound on international cricket's facade.
Countless pathetic excuses have been trundled out by various gutless officials – it's an African problem and politics has no place in sport being the lamest – with the result being that Zimbabwe have blundered on both unconvincingly and unnecessarily.
They should have been removed from international competition long ago.
Two of their highest profile players – Andy Flower and Henry Olonga – wearing black armbands during a World Cup game to protest against the death of democracy in their country, should have given a fair indication that something was amiss.
The fact England refused to play in Harare during the same 2003 tournament was a clear sign that all was not well.
That was more than five years ago, and only now has any convincing action been taken.
Those at cricket's top table should be hanging their heads in shame that it has taken so long for something decisive to be done.
The incomprehensible actions of Robert Mugabe and his henchmen in their desperate and increasingly violent desire to hang on to power has reached a point where action has become a necessity rather than a wish.
The period of inactivity, when election rigging and the slaughter of political opposition has been going on for years, is another black mark against the ICC, but count your lucky stars that sanctions have finally been administered.
The alarming thing is that, unless the ICC vote to expel Zimbabwe from the organisation, they will be able to compete in international tournaments as though nothing has happened.
With the World Twenty20 Cup scheduled for these shores in the second half of next summer, there is the strong possibility of diplomatic embarrasment waiting to happen.
With South Africa – a staunch ally of Zimbabwe in the past – cancelling sporting ties with their African neighbour, a further nail has been hammered into the Zimbabwean cricketing coffin.
The ICC has the opportunity to wield its power effectively for once and relieve Zimbabwe of their international membership.
If they are unwilling to take that step then the British government should take it for them.
If England lose the right to host the Twenty20 World Cup because they won't let Zimbabwe compete then so be it.
A moral stance has to be taken somewhere down the line, even if means that the almighty dollar takes a back seat for once.
Allowing Zimbabwe to compete would be effectively condoning the totalitarian regime that has turned a flourishing nation into the kind of dictatorship that has started conflicts in the past.
The saddest aspect of this whole affair is that it is the cricketers themselves are the ones who suffer the most.
Those with the most to lose, through no fault of their own, lose the most.
Gordon Brown's government have taken the first step in preventing Zimbabwe from competing in this country.
The ICC, when they meet next week, have the opportunity to take the decisive course of action that this whole sordid episode has deserved for far too long.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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