New Zealand to bar Fijian players from WRC?

[Prestwick]

An interesting piece from the Economist (*suddenly hears groans from Shtove as he hugs his voodoo economic blogs for comfort*)

http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2011/04/new_zealands_rugby_diplomacy

Officials in Wellington think they may have got its military junta in a chicken-wing: they will bar some of Fiji’s best rugby players from attending the 2011 Rugby World Cup if it doesn’t accelerate the pace of the democratic reform it has promised.

Which means no democracy = no Fiji at the RWC. Apparently the IRB will not intervene and will let New Zealand go ahead with the ban.

 

[Shaggy]

An interesting piece from the Economist (*suddenly hears groans from Shtove as he hugs his voodoo economic blogs for comfort*)

http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2011/04/new_zealands_rugby_diplomacy

Which means no democracy = no Fiji at the RWC. Apparently the IRB will not intervene and will let New Zealand go ahead with the ban.

The ban on Fijian players with family ties to the Fijian military has been in place for quite a while now, and it's been known that it will effect Fiji's World Cup squad ... i'm wondering why it's suddenly in the economist?

... also, it doesn't mean no Fiji at the cup, as it's not all of the players that are banned

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Ye this stuff been posted a while back. Pretty sad mind.

 

[Charles]

Retarded. A friend of mine couldn't go to Australia because he's got family in the military, he was 15 at the time. Completely idiotic.

Why not ban Russia, or Italy then?

 

[LittleGuy]

I think you misinterpreted the article, they aren't banning the whole Fijian team just players associated with the military, while it will hurt Fiji's chances its not like they aren't going to let the whole team come over. That being said I don't agree with this idea, I highly doubt any of the low ranking members of the military have any pull with the Commodore, and is he suddenly going to give up power because a 2nd rate Lock had to be inserted into the starting line up vs. Namibia?

The previous "democratic" regime was hardly a shining beacon of tolerance or respect for individuals rights just check out one of the main reasons for the coup the Qoliqoli bill http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoliqoli_Bill

 

[Shaggy]

I think you misinterpreted the article, they aren't banning the whole Fijian team just players associated with the military, while it will hurt Fiji's chances its not like they aren't going to let the whole team come over. That being said I don't agree with this idea, I highly doubt any of the low ranking members of the military have any pull with the Commodore, and is he suddenly going to give up power because a 2nd rate Lock had to be inserted into the starting line up vs. Namibia?

The previous "democratic" regime was hardly a shining beacon of tolerance or respect for individuals rights just check out one of the main reasons for the coup the Qoliqoli bill http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoliqoli_Bill

I hear what you're saying Little Guy, but it is Fiji's national sport (particularly the sevens), and so it's about putting pressure on to reinstate a democratically elected government ... it's actually a lighter sanction than what they placed on Fiji for the Commonwealth games, where they were banned completely

... while I don't generally agree with mixing politics and sport, I've had a bad habit of showing up in Fiji just before coups (don't worry, i'm not a CIA operative) , and I don't think they do much good for the general population (when you throw in economic sanctions as well), so the sooner democracy is restored the better

 

[LittleGuy]

I am glad they aren't barring Fiji from entering completely, and the Commonwealth games does have a consistent track record of barring nations with human rights abuses. I would like to seee Fiji return to a democratic rule but I'm worried about the underlying tensions and issues between the Indo-Fijian and Ethnic Fijian communities, I have read about massive emigration out of Fiji by the Indo-Fijians it would be sad to see a demgogue take advantage of this and get elected on a platform that is ambiguously or outright racialist.