South African sport is racist and may require sanctions all over again

Isn’t it ironic that one of the cornerstones in the fight against apartheid was sporting isolation? The fact that South African team selections were based on race was so abhorrent to the international sporting community that the country was sent packing until it got its house in order.

The International Olympic Committee has confirmed inter alia the following in its charter: “The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind … The organisation, administration and management of sport must be controlled by independent sports organisations.

“Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.”

Yesterday I looked at the disgraceful conduct of our rugby administrators.

Today I read Neil Manthorpe’s article on the disgraceful racism practised by their cricket counterparts.

In yesterday’s article on rugby I gave you a reference to a Business Day article wherein soccer administrators admitted that they fell woefully short when it came to investment in our youth.

All three major sports are receiving billions and all three are complaining about transformation at a time when black control has effectively been exercised for 14 years.

In other words, the billions are not being invested in our kids — fat commissions for landing the World Cup go to administrators and billions are finding their way into coffers, but it’s only a trickle into development.

It seems to me that because they refuse to pour the billions into our youth, South African sports administrators believe that the way to get around this criminal omission is to make any non-white player a Protea or Springbok and call that transformation!

That’s not transformation because our black kids and our other children are a treasure trove waiting to be tapped.

Problem is, why bother parting with cash when you can put tokens into teams and bullshit us about that being transformation?

If anyone gave a rat’s arse about these kids, they would have moved heaven and earth to get the television rights for them. Instead they would rather disgrace us again by practising racism!

Previously we were isolated because of racist legislation, practices and government interference in sport. That is exactly what is happening right now!

Must the sportsmen and -women of our country call for sanctions until government interference is halted, racist practices are outlawed and transformation in the form of our youth rather than our administrators benefiting from our sporting wealth is achieved?

Gentlemen, you are a national disgrace!

Must we wait until another groundswell in sport takes place before real transformation takes place? Do we need a Polokwane-type blood-letting before the people who care about the kids are put into place?

Right now the kids get a fraction of the benefit the billions bring, little or no televised sport, and lies, lies, lies: the selectors are forced to select tokens in order to confirm transformation as a cover-up to the real crime of the century; and the wealth of our sport is being kept rather than invested in them.

Gentlemen, you are a national disgrace! (So true I said it twice.)