Should Zimbabwe be in the world cup?

[Narly_Sai]

With everything that's going on with Zimbabwe in terms of human rights, should organisers of the cricket world cup really have allowed Zimbabwe to qualify? Doesn't it send out a whole political hypocrisy - "we'll threaten sanctions on your nation, condemn your leader but we'll allow you to play in the world cup!"

Also cricketweb's nation stats also state Zimbabwe as a "parliamentary democracy", this is contrary to the truth as Mugabe appoints the last thirty or so members of the parliament himself during election, which by default makes his nation an autocracy.

 

[Langeveldt]

Yes, I think they should..

Whether or not a team from Zimbabwe plays international cricket or not, makes NOT ONE IOTA of difference to any of the attrocities that are going on inside Zimbabwe at the present.. You think if the ICC suspended Zimbabwe, Mugabe would go and retire on the beach somewhere?

 

[Chubb]

Of course they bloody should. It's not the player's fault that Zim has gone to hell under that bastard Mugabe. In fact I think Zim playing international cricket keeps the regime in the spotlight.

 

[open365]

I get your point but in reality banning their cricket team will do little to help the situation and as Chubb said, letting them play brings attention to what's going on in the country.

 

[Narly_Sai]

Yes, I think they should..

Whether or not a team from Zimbabwe plays international cricket or not, makes NOT ONE IOTA of difference to any of the attrocities that are going on inside Zimbabwe at the present.. You think if the ICC suspended Zimbabwe, Mugabe would go and retire on the beach somewhere?

I'm not saying that it would make a difference to Mugabe's regime, I'm saying out of principle they shouldn't be there. The cricket team as I understand is endorsed by Mugabe. If you're going to condemn a nation's government, you should show the world that merely imposing sanctions on the elite is not enough but actually not allowing a cricket team...(something that Mugabe holds dear) to play.

 

[PhoenixFire]

I'm not saying that it would make a difference to Mugabe's regime, I'm saying out of principle they shouldn't be there. The cricket team as I understand is endorsed by Mugabe. If you're going to condemn a nation's government, you should show the world that merely imposing sanctions on the elite is not enough but actually not allowing a cricket team...(something that Mugabe holds dear) to play.

That's a harsh call on the actual team. Clearly the team are a decent enough bunch of blokes, and everyone knows that Muagbe is a total nutter, so I don't see how it has any bearing on whether they should play or not.

 

[Evermind]

Open suggestion to Zim team: Play well, score a ton of runs, tour England, seek asylum, become residents, say a big "Fu*k you" to Mugabe, make money, pour it into Zim's opposition parties.

Yay!

 

[Langeveldt]

I'm not saying that it would make a difference to Mugabe's regime, I'm saying out of principle they shouldn't be there. The cricket team as I understand is endorsed by Mugabe. If you're going to condemn a nation's government, you should show the world that merely imposing sanctions on the elite is not enough but actually not allowing a cricket team...(something that Mugabe holds dear) to play.

I know what your saying, but Mugabe doesn't really hold his cricket team that dearly, and it wouldn't affect anything if he lost it overnight.. After all, let us not forget, its still a team full of whites and all kinds.. If it was his cricket team, it would be made of entirely Shona people from Pro-Mugabe areas..

I know quite a few Zimbo cricketers, mainly some old CFX academy guys.. Its fairly clear that they are playing for Zimbabwe, and for each other, not for Mugabe.. Nobody would accuse them of that, and as long as that remains the case, I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed the oppertunity to at least better themselves as cricketers..

Whether they should be playing tests, well thats another matter entirely and down to whether they are actually competitive enough..

 

[cover drive man]

Well if scotland and kenya are in it then Zimbabwe should be.

 

[Evermind]

Well if scotland and kenya are in it then Zimbabwe should be.

Sure, considering the political situation in Scotland has attracted widespread condemnation.

 

[James]

Open suggestion to Zim team: Play well, score a ton of runs, tour England, seek asylum, become residents, say a big "Fu*k you" to Mugabe, make money, pour it into Zim's opposition parties.

Yay!

Watch your language, and don't avoid the filter.

 

[Goughy]

Ive never seen the relevance of sport and a political situation or a particular government.

Its just opens doors for meddling. There are proper channels for dealing with these type of situations and sport is nothing to do with it. Its just doing something for the sake of doing something and impacting the wrong people.

I didnt agree with the SA ban and I would oppose any Zim ban or a ban on China as others have said in previous threads.

 

[steds]

Sure, considering the political situation in Scotland has attracted widespread condemnation.

Damn that SNP!

 

[Goughy]

Damn that SNP!

Especially given Alex Salmond loves his cricket

 

[jammay123]

im not very knowlageble about politics and i know its diffrent but wasnt south africa banned because of aparthied.

 

[Prince EWS]

Well, I'm really not sure.

While I agree that exclding them from cricket will make little political difference and that it in fact makes their plight more in the spotlight, I'm not happy with the standard of the side.

Seeing a bunch of young blokes who may or may not have turned out to be decent cricketers get absolutely smashed in every match is not only embarressing but also, IMO, quite disrespectful and disgraceful to the players that have gone before - the Flowers, the Streaks, the Houghtons et al. If a country simply goes through a rough patch and isn't producing top line cricketers, you obviously have to live with that, but the case is different with Zimbabwe - they simply lost basically a whole generation of cricketers that they had already produced and developed. As an argument in terms of an actual exclusion by the ICC, this has no backing, because they are still significantly better than the Bermudas and Canadas of the world.

In terms of a world cricket perspective, there is no doubt at all that they should be playing, IMO, but personally as a supporter of Zimbabwe cricket, I don't really want to see them out there at the moment.

 

[_Ed_]

im not very knowlageble about politics and i know its diffrent but wasnt south africa banned because of aparthied.

Yes, and rightly so. It didn't have any effect though, apartheid survived for more than two decades afterwards.

 

[Poker Boy]

In cricketing terms yes (but not Test cricket - they aren't good enough). All I will say about the politics is that if Mugabe was white they wouldn't be anywhere near the WC. That's the hypocricsy...

 

[jot1]

Just for interests' sake. The Zim population cannot see the World Cup or how their team is faring. The government has put a blackout on TV coverage of it. There are, of course, places where the rich and the elite can watch, if they can access other TV channels, and, of course, if the power supply doesn't cut out. But the majority of the population have to depend on national TV and there is no coverage.
Needless to say, a lot of the elite in the government are in the Carribean at the moment, courtesy of the government, representing Zim and enjoying a free holiday to boot.

 

[Richard]

Ive never seen the relevance of sport and a political situation or a particular government.

Its just opens doors for meddling. There are proper channels for dealing with these type of situations and sport is nothing to do with it. Its just doing something for the sake of doing something and impacting the wrong people.

I didnt agree with the SA ban and I would oppose any Zim ban or a ban on China as others have said in previous threads.

I'm surprised at you, TBH.

I'd expect someone like you to know that there is nothing which is not affected by politics. Regardless of the fact that cricket (and most other sports, and a host of other activities) is 100% more enjoyable with the least political interference, there are some things more important than the game of cricket.

As to the main point - as near enough everyone knows, if I$C$C were to come-out and say "Zimbabwe are not considered for any international cricket match because of the atrocious human-rights record of their Govornment" it'd make not one jot (sorry, Joanna) of difference to Zanu PF. Therefore, I don't think there should be any pressure on anyone in cricket to make a stance against them. This is in direct contrast to the Apartheid South Africa situation where there's substantial evidence that the GlenEagles Agreement did make a difference, and who knows, it might have been even better had not some players decided their own financial gain was more important.

Nonetheless, Zimbabwe are not fit in a cricketing sense to be at the top table - Zanu PF has destroyed everything about the country, including the cricket setup. Therefore, as a direct consequence of Zanu PF, Zimbabwe should be stripped of all Full Member rights as far as I'm concerned.