ABSTRACT
Just before their first match of the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Zimbabwean cricketers Andy Flower and Henry Olonga issued a statement explaining their decision to protest the ongoing human rights abuses waged by the oppressive regime of Robert Mugabe. By donning black armbands, Flower and Olonga engaged in a political gesture designed to mourn the ‘death of democracy’ in Zimbabwe and draw attention to the social, political and economic problems of their homeland. For Flower and Olonga, the act of expressing their feelings represented an exercising of basic human rights denied to many of their fellow countrymen and women. In response, the authorities castigated the two athletes, reiterated the myth of apolitical sport, and tightened the connection between the government and the national team. While the protest failed to catalyse direct social change, it raised awareness of human rights issues in Zimbabwe and illustrated the relevance of sport in even the most beleaguered societies.
