LONDON - Britainâs Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and another senior official asked the International Cricket Council to consider banning Zimbabwe from the sport as punishment for increasing human rights abuses, a British newspaper reported on Sunday.
| And if that doesn't work, they'll lobby to ban Zimbabwe from water tennis. |
Straw and Tessa Jowell, head of the Culture, Media and Sport ministry, said an urgent review was needed to decide whether it is âappropriateâ for Zimbabwe to participate in the sport, said The Observer newspaper, citing a copy of the letter. The Foreign Office refused to comment on Sunday, and no one could immediately be reached at the International Cricket Council.
In the letter, Straw and Jowell said the Zimbabwe governmentâs latest campaign, dubbed Operation Murambatsvina, or Drive Out Trash, has led to the deterioration of âan already grave human rights and humanitarian situation,â the newspaper said. The ministers asked the council to not only consider banning Zimbabwe, but also to waive fines now levied against countries who refuse to play Zimbabwe. |