Australia's government yesterday barred the national cricket team from touring Zimbabwe in September, saying it wanted to avoid giving a propaganda victory to "grubby dictator" Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who has repeatedly expressed concerns over the deteriorating situation in the southern African nation, said his government had taken the decision out of Cricket Australia's (CA) hands.
Howard said it was not fair to leave foreign policy matters with sportsmen, preferring that his government accept responsibility for the tour. He urged other cricketing nations to follow suit.
"We don't do this lightly, but we are convinced that for the tour to go ahead there would be an enormous propaganda boost for the Mugabe regime," Howard told ABC television. "The Mugabe regime at present is behaving like the Gestapo towards its political opponents, the living standards of the country are probably the lowest of any in the world and you have an unbelievable rate of inflation."
"I have no doubt that if this tour goes ahead it would be an enormous boost to this grubby dictator and whilst it pains me both as a cricket lover and as somebody who genuinely believes these things should be left to sporting organizations ... it leaves me with no alternative," he said.
Zimbabwe reacted angrily, describing the ban as "desperate" and "racist."
"The Australians are mixing politics with sport and the decision shows how desperate the Howard government is to isolate Zimbabwe," junior information minister Bright Matonga said.
"Australia is one of the worst human rights violators in this whole world. Look what they have done to the aborigines and yet they have the audacity to stand up and claim to have the moral authority to condemn us," he said.
"This is also a racist ploy to kill our local cricket since our cricket team is now dominated by black players as we slowly transform cricket from being an elite sport," he continued.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said his organization will assess the detail of the government's decision and may play Zimbabwe at a neutral venue.
"Given our commitment to help Zimbabwe cricket develop, we will now explore the possibility of playing the three one-day internationals we are due to play against Zimbabwe at a neutral venue outside Zimbabwe," he said.
Howard said his government has offered to reimburse CA for any losses under its agreement with Zimbabwe Cricket for not proceeding with the tour.
CA is facing a potential US$2 million fine from the sport's governing body if it abandoned the tour.
"It's pretty obvious to me that the players and the body [CA] wanted to act in conformity with public opinion but in the end, not surprisingly, they wanted a situation where the decision was taken by the government and not the players," Howard said. "I don't think it's fair to leave a foreign policy decision of this magnitude on the shoulders of young sportsmen. It's much better, in the end, for the government to take the rap."
Australia captain Ricky Ponting said he did not dispute the decision.
"I'm comfortable that the Australian government has taken the responsibility for making international affairs decisions on behalf of the country," he said in a statement.
The Zimbabwe tour has become a major topic of debate in Australia, with a majority of the public urging a boycott.
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