Opposition parties have criticised what they call interference by the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in the selection of the Springbok rugby team.
The Freedom Front Plus’s spokesperson on sport, Leon Louw, questioned the independence of the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) on Thursday after it made changes to the starting squad for Saturday’s test against England, apparently under pressure from the ANCYL.
”Sarfu should not underestimate the IQ of the rugby public by saying one thing and doing another. In spite of the denials by the team management, it is clear that they were obliged to succumb to political pressure to ensure that there would not be only one player of colour in the starting line-up,” said Louw.
The Democratic Alliance’s spokesperson on sport, Donald Lee, said the ANC’s ”race obsession” acts against the best interest of sport.
”Once again, the ANC is showing it is obsessed with race rather than with sporting excellence or unity. This will backfire, and ensure that our sport never escapes the shadow of race, but rather that the divisions of race will tear apart sporting unity, and discredit attempts to normalise sport.”
He said two incidents underline the DA’s concern.
These are the ANC Youth League’s claim that the Springbok starting line-up did not contain enough players of colour, and the league’s insistence that Breyton Paulse, at first left out, was later included to increase the number of black players. — Sapa
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