South Africa’s Springbok rugby squad faces the threat of having their passports confiscated unless more black players are picked for this year’s World Cup, the media reported on Tuesday.
The influential chairperson of the country’s parliamentary sports committee, Butana Komphela, warned that this ”worst-case scenario” would be necessary if there were not at least six black players in the World Cup squad.
”In principle, we can’t allow a team that does not reflect the South African picture to represent our country,” Komphela was quoted as telling the Beeld newspaper.
”My fear is that rugby won’t see the World Cup. We will try to convince the minister of home affairs to confiscate their passports if the team is not representative.”
Komphela was speaking during a discussion about an amendment to the National Sport and Recreation Amendment Bill that would give the sports minister the power to set racial targets.
The relationship between the sport and the South African government has been strained for years due to the lack of black players in the national teams.
More than a dozen years after the end of apartheid, and South Africa’s victory in the 1995 World Cup, the proportion of black players to white has been slow to transform.
Komphela said a good start would be to have six black or coloured players in the 30-man squad.
”We won’t be happy with six players, but will view it as a good start. We would like to see that SA Rugby takes into account all the talent at its disposal when teams are chosen.
”Six out of thirty is not representative but it’s a good start. If good reasons are given, we will take it into consideration and change our position. Injuries, for example are outside of anyone’s control,” said Komphela.
Komphela’s comments come before a World Cup squad has been finalised. The 28-man squad that travelled overseas at the end of 2006 contained eight black players.
The president of the South African Rugby Union, Oregan Hoskins, said Komphela’s comments should not be seen as idle threats.
”We must take what he says seriously. We have not nearly finalised the group of players. We want to cooperate with the government and will talk to them often.”
Komphela has previously criticised Hoskins’s running of the union, telling him to quit over the lack of transformation in the sport. — AFP
