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Alvin Sallay

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Zimbabwe is best,
For Mugabe and his few
This ode is dedicated with love to the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union, which on Valentine's Day - Thursday - will hold the draw for next month's Hong Kong Sevens.
Zimbabwe  are the new side for this year's tournament although they are no strangers to Hong Kong, having made appearances in 1997, when they qualified for the Rugby World Cup Sevens, and in 1998 when they were invited back.
In this last decade, Zimbabwe has spiralled out of control and is in economic collapse with inflation rampant - one US dollar is now worth up to $2 million Zimbabwean dollars on the black market. Wheelbarrows have replaced wallets in Harare.
Once the bread basket of southern Africa, Zimbabwe today has to rely on food aid  to feed its starving millions.
President Robert Mugabe, who turns 84 this month, has been in power since 1980, and still shows no sign of relinquishing it.  His administration has been accused by critics in the United States, Europe and the British Commonwealth  of a wide range of problems, from corruption and suppression of political opponents to economic mismanagement and deteriorating human rights.
Mugabe, who once compared himself to Hitler, should be widely held responsible for the sorry state his country is in. Apparently the joke doing the rounds in the drawing rooms of Bulawayo and Harare goes like this: What did Zimbabwe have before candles? The answer: Electricity.
Zimbabwe is also in the dark on the international cricket field. The national team have been in self-imposed test exile for the past two years because of the paucity of their cricket. Some countries have refused to visit them - Australia in 2007 - and some countries have refused Zimbabwe entry - New Zealand in 2005.
It is believed that  the British government is  also inclined to deny visas to Zimbabwe's cricketers next year for a scheduled tour of England - that is, if they are back in the test fold by then. All these cases are because of opposition to Mugabe and the grim political situation in Zimbabwe. It is easier for governments to take a stance through sports than, say, business. Sports and politics do mix.
It is in this light that the question was posed to Hong Kong rugby officials as to how they viewed the arrival of Zimbabwe next month for the annual rugby carnival.
'We have been asked by the International Rugby Board to include Zimbabwe in the line-up of teams. That was not our decision,' replied Allan Payne, Hong Kong Rugby Football Union's executive director. He added: 'The IRB's stance is that sport is different to politics and should not mix.'
Zimbabwe's presence at the Hong Kong Sevens apparently comes at the expense of Italy, with the IRB having taken away one European slot and given it to an African team to ensure better geographical distribution. Since the Hong Kong Sevens is part of the IRB circuit, the world governing body has a big say as to who plays and who doesn't.
But what if during the draw on Valentine's Day, Zimbabwe is thrown into the same group as, say, England or Australia? Will there be opposition from those governments to such a meeting at the Hong Kong Stadium? Not likely because this is not a bilateral tour, but part of a larger multi-nation competition. Indeed, in this year's series, Zimbabwe has already played against England - at George, South Africa - and Australia in Dubai.
While I'm no advocate of sport being used as a tool by governments to voice their objections, it is sometimes the only way to highlight the failure of a system - the most infamous case being apartheid in South Africa.
We all know how sport, especially cricket and rugby, played a big role in bringing into the open racial segregation in South Africa, and furthermore how it played an even bigger role in the fall of apartheid.
And we also know how sport can heal old wounds - like in 1995 when Nelson Mandela, donning a Springbok  jersey, embraced South African rugby captain Francois Pienaar, an Afrikaner, in a spontaneous gesture of racial reconciliation after the Springboks had won the World Cup. So in this instance, sport played a huge role.
It would be daft to expect world rugby authorities to bar countries from taking part in events like the Hong Kong Sevens simply because of the sorry state of politics, or human rights,  in that country. Mostly, it would not be fair on the athletes.
But there is no harm if the message is somehow put across to such governments that what they are doing in their country is not fine by all sport-loving people. This might not mean much to Mugabe,    who has not even been deterred by economic sanctions.
After all, bread doesn't matter to those in power, as they are eating cake. But if you take away things like international recognition on the sporting field, perhaps it might make a difference. It happened in South Africa.
Like Zimbabwe, Kenya and Sri Lanka too will be in action at the Hong Kong Sevens next month. They are  also countries where atrocities are happening on a daily basis. If we were living in Utopia, then perhaps these countries would be barred from taking part at this world-famous tournament until their governments put their house in order.
But sadly the world is not a perfect place. Zimbabwe will arrive next month. And Mugabe will carry on regardless.

