Double Standards: South Africa, British Rugby, and the Moscow Olympics

Abstract

The year 1980 proved to be a time of diplomatic crisis for the British government and the Commonwealth due to the confluence of two events: a British Lions tour of South Africa and the Moscow Olympics. The Thatcher government debated its Commonwealth counterparts over the perceived hypocrisy of British policy towards South Africa and Moscow. While the British government campaigned internationally for a boycott of the Moscow Games, many African and Caribbean countries believed Britain was taking a harder line against Moscow than in enforcing the Gleneagles Agreement to end all sporting contacts with apartheid South Africa. This inconsistency led to threats of retaliation from African countries and seriously affected the influence Britain had in Africa during the period of Rhodesian independence and the ongoing conflict in Namibia. Controversy erupted surrounding the plans for a British Lions tour, how the invasion of Afghanistan changed the target of the Moscow boycott, and about the discussions between Britain and other countries about sporting ‘double standards’.