North West Euro MP David Sumberg is urging the International Cricket Council to abandon plans to allow Zimbabwe to co-host next year’s cricket world cup.

Mr Sumberg said: "It would be entirely wrong, and an insult to the country's millions of suffering people, for cricket world cup matches to be played in Zimbabwe.

"President Mugabe is Patron of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and it would be utterly unacceptable to have an England cricket team performing in front of him when six million Zimbabweans are starving as a direct result of his policies and while murder and political intimidation are rampant.” 

Mr Sumberg said given the oppressive regime in Zimbabwe it was sadly impossible it to separate politics and sport.

”Zimbabwe's co-hosting of the World Cup would be directly associated with Mugabe's despotic regime and he would regard the cricket world cup matches as international acceptance of his policies,’ he said. “Therefore, unfortunately, we must insist that these matches do not take place in Zimbabwe."

NOTE:   Zimbabwe is set to co-host the Cricket World Cup in February and March 2003.
An International Cricket Council (ICC) mission to assess the security and safety situation for the visiting teams returned from Zimbabwe at the beginning of December and will make a recommendation to the ICC Executive Board shortly.

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