May 15, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 27, 1428

SYDNEY, May 14: Prime Minister John Howard on Monday said it was ludicrous to suggest Australia was racist for banning its cricketers from touring Zimbabwe, as he faced questions at home about mixing sport with politics.

Howard on Sunday ordered Australian cricketers not to tour the impoverished African nation, saying the presence of the world champions would be used as a propaganda tool to support the rule of ‘grubby dictator’ Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe's junior Information Minister Bright Matonga hit back by saying the ban was a racist ploy designed to keep Zimbabwe out of international sport.

Howard said it was absurd to suggest the decision was racially motivated.

“I mean, that is just ludicrous. I mean nobody believes that except him. There's not an Australian who would see this decision as being racist, I mean, heavens above. That is just absurd,” Howard told reporters.

Howard, who as a junior backbencher in 1975 argued that sporting boycotts would be ineffective in breaking down South Africa's apartheid regime, said the situation in Zimbabwe was unique.

No comparison could be made with China, which next year hosts the Olympic Games in Beijing despite international criticism over its human rights record, he said.

“I have absolutely no intention of intervening in relation to the Olympics in Beijing except to give very strong support to the Australian team,” Howard said.

The prime minister said it was unfair for players to decide for themselves whether they should play the one-day series in Zimbabwe in September, and that banning the tour was a way to send a very strong signal of disapproval about Mugabe's regime.

“I'm sorry it's come to this, it really does pain me as a cricket lover that it has come to this pass, but this is a terrible regime, whatever happens he will try and turn it to his propaganda advantage,” Howard said.

Howard also poured cold water on the suggestion put forward by the sport's governing body Cricket Australia that the games could still go ahead in a neutral venue.

“I am very sceptical both about the wisdom of that and also about the likelihood of it happening,” he said.

“We'll obviously deal with it if it comes up, but we don't want to do anything that provides any skerrick (slight amount) of comfort to Mugabe's regime.”

Meanwhile, the tour ban got overwhelming support in the nation's press.

“Too often in the past politicians have made all sorts of noises about sporting tours to undesirable countries but never backed their rhetoric with action, showing a profound lack of leadership,” The Australian said.

“It has been left to sports players and administrators to grapple with difficult moral and political issues that should be dealt with by a higher authority,” it said.

The paper cited opening batsman Matthew Hayden saying he was seriously considering his position after the concerns he experienced when touring Zimbabwe in 2004. Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill withdrew from that tour.

“Any suggestion that politics should be kept out of sport pales into insignificance against the need to deny the odious Robert Mugabe aid and comfort of any kind, making the government's decision to block the Australian cricket team's tour of Zimbabwe entirely appropriate,” it said.

Melbourne's Herald-Sun said there was relief in the government's decision, and that nobody was comfortable with the idea of dealing with the ‘murderous Mugabe regime’.

“Yesterday's get-out card from Prime Minister Howard was welcome. It will be pretty much unanimously applauded, too, even though governments interfering with sporting bodies going about their lawful business is usually political dynamite.”

The Sydney Morning Herald also welcomed the decision but warned it had set a dangerous “albeit popular” precedent.

“Should the government look to broaden that ban beyond matches played exclusively in Zimbabwe, it could well find itself in a heated battle with the very body it is trying to help,” the newspaper said.

The Herald-Sun warned that Cricket Australia (CA) could not walk away from the vexed Zimbabwe issue, saying that the organisation had a duty and a conscience to prevent cricket in the African nation from falling apart.

“The Asian and African countries are adamant that Zimbabwe must be given every chance to remain a viable member of the family.

“They are watching closely what Australia does and if they don't like what they see it could have damaging repercussions for CA's own lucrative schedules and, indeed, for its influence and clout.”—AFP