The Gleneagles Agreement
The Soweto uprising in South Africa led to the United Nations reaction in which was to try to abolish the apartheid-ruled government in South Africa, and the way in which they believed would be the most effective technique was to get countries to sign an agreement to stop all sporting contact with South Africa in hopes to gain their attention to make a change. This agreement was formally known as the Gleneagles Agreement in which was signed on the 15th of June 1977, and with this agreement came the start of the first international movement in the global campaign to isolate South Africa from world sport. The agreement also reinforced the Commonwealth countries commitment, in which was embodied in the Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth Principles (1971), to oppose racism.
Overall the agreement was powerfully effective as it sent South Africa, in which was under rule of an apartheid ruled government, a message that the countries around the world did not support their society in which they had in place; demanding that they immediately make a change through giving everyone equal rights and equal status and not judging people by the color of their skin; but through their integrity, their personality.
The Gleneagles agreement was one of the leading causes to the protest in New Zealand against the Springbok Tour. This was because New Zealand was one of the many Commonwealth countries to sign the agreement to stop all sporting contact with the nation. However despite this, Robert Muldoon, the acting Prime Minister of New Zealand at the time, professed a belief that politics should not interfere with sports. Therefore the NZRFU (New Zealand Rugby Football Union), invited the South Africans to tour New Zealand in 1981.
In 1980, the deputy Prime Minister Brian Talboys wrote to the acting NZRFU chairman, Ces Blazey, expressing a concern "that such a tour was even being considered". Brian Talboys knew that such sporting contact with South Africa would be seen as condoning apartheid and therefore would affect "how New Zealand is judged in the international area".
One of the main reasons for Muldoon to reiterate the idea that sports and politics should not mix, according to Historian Jock Phillips, is because Muldoon himself was a war veteran. The men of Muldoon's generation had grown up in depression and in war, and therefore they have a firm belief in the British Empire and the role of New Zealand men in armed conflict, and that rugby was central to this culture. The Prime Minister knew that the elections were coming up and that to have the South Africans to come and tour New Zealand, with the statement "sports and politics shouldn't mix" he understood that it would be essential to have the support of rugby fans throughout New Zealand during the elections.
Overall the agreement was powerfully effective as it sent South Africa, in which was under rule of an apartheid ruled government, a message that the countries around the world did not support their society in which they had in place; demanding that they immediately make a change through giving everyone equal rights and equal status and not judging people by the color of their skin; but through their integrity, their personality.
The Gleneagles agreement was one of the leading causes to the protest in New Zealand against the Springbok Tour. This was because New Zealand was one of the many Commonwealth countries to sign the agreement to stop all sporting contact with the nation. However despite this, Robert Muldoon, the acting Prime Minister of New Zealand at the time, professed a belief that politics should not interfere with sports. Therefore the NZRFU (New Zealand Rugby Football Union), invited the South Africans to tour New Zealand in 1981.
In 1980, the deputy Prime Minister Brian Talboys wrote to the acting NZRFU chairman, Ces Blazey, expressing a concern "that such a tour was even being considered". Brian Talboys knew that such sporting contact with South Africa would be seen as condoning apartheid and therefore would affect "how New Zealand is judged in the international area".
One of the main reasons for Muldoon to reiterate the idea that sports and politics should not mix, according to Historian Jock Phillips, is because Muldoon himself was a war veteran. The men of Muldoon's generation had grown up in depression and in war, and therefore they have a firm belief in the British Empire and the role of New Zealand men in armed conflict, and that rugby was central to this culture. The Prime Minister knew that the elections were coming up and that to have the South Africans to come and tour New Zealand, with the statement "sports and politics shouldn't mix" he understood that it would be essential to have the support of rugby fans throughout New Zealand during the elections.