Sports After Dark

Fifa cancelled the World Cup qualifier between New Zealand and Fiji after the New Zealand government refused to grant a visa to Fijian goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau. But in this clash between politicians and sports administrators, it is the players and fans who lose.

After last year’s military coup and the expelling of New Zealand’s High Commissioner, the New Zealand government imposed strict sanctions on Fiji, including refusing visas to any Fijian with military connections. Tamanisau’s father-in-law is in the army and therefore his visa was refused.

Fifa considered this inconsistent with the worldwide practise of granting visas to players entering a country for the sole purpose of playing a World Cup qualifier, regardless of political considerations. As Fiji would have been unable to field a full strength team for reasons beyond their control, the Organising Committee decided to cancel the game, which will likely be played at a neutral venue sometime in the future.

Fans were quick to express their disappointment as football fans in Auckland, where the game was to be played, have been without top class football since New Zealand’s A League franchise relocated to Wellington this season. The main target of their blame was foreign minister Winston Peters who, as always, was attempting to blame somebody else.

Mr Peters said New Zealand had handled the matter in accordance with existing immigration policy and it was Fiji which had chosen to make the matter political. Fans were quick to point out that New Zealand made the matter political by denying the visa, not Fiji.

Mr Peters also attempted to make contact with Fifa president Sepp Blatter to explain New Zealand’s immigration policy but was told Mr Blatter was unavailable. Fans were also quick to seize upon this, saying it was Peters’ own sense of self-importance and this perceived slight which brought the situation to a head.

Fans on the Yellow Fever website also wondered if this situation would be repeated at next year’s Wellington IRB Sevens tournament where Fiji are a world power, the more cynical suggesting that rugby players would be given special treatment.

Sports and politics do not mix, and when situations like this occur governments and administrators are both made to look foolish, while fans and players lose out. All White Chris Killen had to secure a release from his club Celtic, then travel from Glasgow to Auckland for this non-fixture.

Perhaps the fans’ feelings were best summed up on the billboard outside Albany Stadium promoting the game. Within an hour of the cancellation it had been graffitied with the words, “Cancelled by Winston Peters.”

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The Who is to blame for the Fiji visa fiasco? by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.