The sports boycott against Rhodesia reconsidered

Abstract

Lost amongst the contemporary debate over Zimbabwe's place in world sport (and especially international cricket) is an awareness that its predecessor state, Rhodesia, had itself been the target of an international sporting boycott during its period of Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain (1965–79). This paper reconsiders that campaign and analyses its broader significance. Two key elements of the campaign against Rhodesian sport are highlighted that are particularly worthy of wider attention. The first was the fundamental rationale behind the boycott movement. Unlike the initial campaign against apartheid sport in South Africa, the boycott against Rhodesia was always centred on the nature and legitimacy of Ian Smith's regime rather than on racial issues within Rhodesian sport itself. Sport became a tool of the wider campaign to deny the legitimacy of Rhodesian independence and nationhood. Secondly, the depth of involvement of the British Government in the boycott campaign is revealed. Indeed, it was the British Government that first instigated the sporting boycott of Rhodesia, and a significant feature of the overall campaign was that it was almost exclusively led by state actors rather than public protest movements. The paper thus examines the motivations and behaviour of successive British governments in using sport as a tool of their overall policy towards Rhodesia.