The prospect of England boycotting their controversial World Cup cricket match in Zimbabwe grew last night as the government agreed to meet the England and Wales Cricket Board to discuss the implications of withdrawing from the fixture.
ECB officials requested the meeting with Tessa Jowell, the culture minister, and the foreign secretary, Jack Straw -who will attend if diary commitments allow — after the prime minister called for the game to be cancelled as a protest against Robert Mugabe’s regime.
Ministers and opposition figures in the UK and Zimbabwe have raised objections to the match because of human rights abuses, but the British government has stressed it has no power to stop the team going.
ECB officials are furious that the government’s objections have been raised just six weeks before the tournament begins, and after a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe declared the country safe. The government only adopted a definitive position at the weekend following pressure from the media.
The ECB maintains there has been no direct contact between ministers and its officials, and insists it is not appropriate for a sporting body to adjudicate on political matters.
Tim Lamb, chief executive of the ECB, said that if the game did not go ahead he would be seeking compensation for the losses incurred. If the match is cancelled the ECB faces a £1-million fine and the prospect of further losses from a reciprocal boycott by Zimbabwe, who are due to play two Test matches in England in the summer.
”I do not believe as a sporting body it is up to us to make moral and political judgments about regimes in other countries,” said Lamb. ”I think we need to be reassured that if we follow the government’s wishes and do not play, we would be indemnified against any losses that are incurred.”
A representative for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said it was happy to discuss compensation, but the Foreign Office said it would be extremely odd for the taxpayer to foot the bill for an independent sporting organisation.
The England captain, Nasser Hussain, speaking in Melbourne after England had lost the fourth Ashes Test, called for further government input to help his squad decide.
”It’s a political issue, it’s a moral issue,” he said. ”You can’t expect some of these young lads who are touring around the world to make a moral decision about Zimbabwe, an uninformed decision.”
The Australian prime minister, John Howard, called for a boycott by all six countries scheduled to play there. They also include India, Pakistan, Namibia and the Netherlands.
The Mugabe government gave its first reaction to the controversy last night, describing the governments’ objections as ”anti-Zimbabwe hysteria”.
But Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main opposition group, the Movement for Democratic Change, said: ”If the English captain is aware of the situation in Zimbabwe, I don’t think he would find it appropriate to come to this country in a situation where everything is collapsing politically, economically and socially.” – Guardian Unlimited