A top South African tennis player who was blocked from competing at Wimbledon in the 1970s has asked for a public apology from its organisers and from the sport’s international governing body.
Hoosen Bobat had been thrilled to qualify for the junior tournament in 1971 at a time when apartheid was at its height – but later had that invitation rescinded just one week before the event.
“After all those years of training and practice, I had the opportunity to play in the greatest stage in the world. When my entry was accepted – there was great joy in Africa among black players… It would have been a gateway to my future tennis career,” he tells BBC Newsday.
He believes that the real reason he was blocked was because of racism. The British government still supported the apartheid regime although international opposition to it was growing.
At this time in South Africa non-white players weren’t allowed to play their white counterparts, and he says matches at all-white tennis centres were watched from caged sections.
This week two British MPs and anti-apartheid veterans – Peter Hain and Jeremy Corbyn – raised the matter in parliament and backed Mr Bobat’s demand for an apology.
Wimbledon’s organisers the AELTC, and tennis’ international governing body the ITF, say they are reviewing the information.
Mr Bobat says the sport still has a long way to go in South Africa, telling The Guardian: “Even now, nothing much has changed. There are less black – which we define as Indian, coloured and black – tennis players now than then.”