Zimbabwe side politically influenced, claims report

At the beginning of a week of mass protests in Zimbabwe against Robert Mugabe - which the government there have threatened will be viciously quashed - the Observer newspaper in London has claimed that the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) is very much a mouthpiece of the Mugabe regime, despite repeated denials from both the ZCU and the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

The ZCU has always maintained that its team selection is free of any political interference and that it outside politics, but the article says this is untrue, listing several key officials who have direct links to the ruling Zanu-PF party. It claims that the squad has been vetted, that the players have been gagged to prevent them voicing any anti-Mugabe views, and that a decision was made by the ZCU during the World Cup to rid the side of any dissidents.

The report was written by Andrew Meldrum, the Observer's correspondent who was last week illegally expelled from Zimbabwe after living there for over two decades. It says that one ZCU board member, Osvias Bvute, acts as the regime's mouthpiece, ensuring that the officials and players do not step out of line. Bvute personally threw Henry Olonga off the team bus following his black-armband protest, and he also demanded that Olonga stop wearing any official Zimbabwe team kit. One former player is quoted as saying that Bvute "constantly tells team members that he has been to [information minister] Jonathan Moyo's office and been talking to him about cricket issues. If that's not being involved in politics in Zimbabwe today, nothing is."

It is also claimed that Bvute was responsible for quashing a plan to remove Mugabe as patron of the ZCU, warning that "anyone who valued their continuing good health would not raise such an issue". Asked to clarify his remark, Bvute is alleged to have replied: "Well, you know, things can happen." In fairness to Bvute, it could be argued that removing Mugabe given the climate of oppression inherent in Zimbabwe would be an act of madness.

Two other ZCU members, Ahmed Ebrahim and his son Max, are also believed to be supporters of Mugabe. Ahmed headed the task force which cleansed the side of dissidents, while Max is the head of the selectors. The higher-profile Peter Chingoka, the chairman, is the man who proposed that Mugabe remain as the ZCU's patron.

Perhaps most controversially, the report says that Babu Meman, the team manager, and Vince Hogg, the managing director, actively endorse the regime by refusing to allow players to comment on any political issue. Even Heath Streak, the captain, is not spared. It is alleged that he goes along with the official line in return for his family's farm being left alone. It was originally on the list of properties scheduled for repossession under the Land Reform Act, and Streak's father was arrested, but the land has subsequently been taken off the list.

A source close to the ZCU argued that the apparent compliance of the board is unavoidable. "They are in a cleft stick because openly to oppose the government on any matter would probably be suicidal," he explained. "The government would raise a pretext for their supposed mismanagement of cricket, send in their stooges to run it, and effectively kill off the game in Zimbabwe. It's this apparent compliance that gives the rest of the world the wrong impression."

Even so, the claims made in the report leaves the ECB, which has repeatedly supported the ZCU, looking rather embarrassed. The ECB has repeatedly insisted that the Zimbabwe tour can be justified because the team is apolitical, but that now appears somewhat wide of the mark. It also raises deep concerns about the deal brokered when David Morgan, chairman of the ECB, visited Zimbabwe in April. Morgan agreed to commit England to touring in 2004, and to pay the ZCU for England's no-show during the World Cup, in return for the ZCU going ahead with their current tour.

Financially, the ECB could not afford Zimbabwe to cancel. Who says money doesn't talk?