EDITORIAL: Bring respect to sport’s Catch-22
The issue of racial quotas in sports is complex and not easily resolved, but attitudes must change. It should be approached with respect
Should SA scrap racial quotas in sport? The issue has arisen again following rugby pundit Ashwin Willemse’s falling out with fellow SuperSport panellists on live television. The precise circumstances of the spat are opaque. Although SuperSport has subsequently claimed there was no racism involved, Willemse has implied that he was described as a "quota player", or at least treated as such. In the broadest sense, there is no satisfactory answer to this difficult question. Most South Africans want teams that reflect the country’s demographics, because that would be fair and just. On the other hand, they want people to be chosen on merit, because that would be fair and just too. Between these poles lies a mass of problems, contradictions, justifications and face-saving devices. Both of these goals are difficult to ascertain. To take one example, some players are slow to develop and need administrators to provide them with the space to hone their skills. They are essentially being chosen...
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