By DONALD SYMONDS
March 26, 2009
Unionville, Ont. — The decision of the South African government to deny a visa to the Dalai Lama to participate in a peace conference that included the involvement of Nobel Peace Prize winners is extremely disappointing (In A ‘Disgrace’ To Its History Of Struggle, South Africa Shuts Out Dalai Lama – March 25).
Postapartheid South Africa began as a shining beam of decency and democracy in a dark world of repressive autocracies. In recent years, this beam has begun to sputter, such as in the case of its abominable behaviour regarding Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Now it has taken another step down the darker path with its banning of the Dalai Lama on the basis that it would not be “in South Africa’s best interests” and would “divert attention” from the World Cup. A further bit of information is that China’s ruling Communist Party is reported to be a major financial contributor to the African National Congress.
Perhaps it is time for FIFA and soccer-playing nations to consider diverting the 2010 World Cup to another location.
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By ROGER COHEN
March 26, 2009
Edmonton — What a short memory the ANC government of South Africa has. The country’s former apartheid government was finally brought to its knees partly because the international sporting community banned sporting teams from visiting South Africa and South African teams from touring overseas.
By banning the Dalai Lama, the ANC has shown its support for the same kind of oppressive government that ruled South Africa during the apartheid years.
It’s time for the international sporting community to react again. It’s not too late to move the 2010 World Cup elsewhere and hold next month’s Indian Premier League cricket tournament in England instead of South Africa.
