Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE Cricket has accused Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart of running a long-running, racially motivated smear campaign against its leadership, challenging him to produce evidence for his claims or stop making them.
“For too long, David Coltart has waged a relentless smear campaign against Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), targeting its black administrators with baseless accusations lacking any credible evidence. It is time to call his bluff and expose his agenda for what it truly is,” ZC communications officer, Darlington Majonga said.
ZC said Coltart’s comments over the years, mostly made on social media, had never been constructive.
“Far from offering constructive criticism, his attacks are fuelled by personal bitterness and racial prejudice, aimed solely at undermining the integrity of selectors and administrators who operate under strict, merit-based and transparent processes,” ZC said.
The cricket body accused the veteran lawyer and politician of distracting from the real work of growing the sport and eroding public trust in a system they insist is fair and transparent.
“We challenge Coltart to abandon his hollow posts and present concrete, factual evidence to support his claims. Without proof, his accusations amount to bar talk, empty noise unworthy of serious consideration but too dangerous to ignore given his political standing and influence,” ZC said.
ZC described Coltart’s allegations of “non-existent racist policies” as dangerous and deplorable, saying selection debates were normal worldwide but his accusations crossed the line.
To understand the gravity of Coltart’s attacks, ZC said one had to recognise cricket’s historical baggage in Zimbabwe.
Introduced in 1890 during the colonial era, the sport was long reserved for the white minority. The first black player only represented Zimbabwe in 1995.
“This history of exclusion is a stain that ZC unequivocally rejects,” the statement read. “In recent years, ZC’s transformation drive has made national, provincial and club teams more representative of the country’s demographics. There is absolutely no place for racial prejudice in our game.”
They said Zimbabwe’s integration policy since independence in 1980 helped the country become a full ICC member in 1992. ZC also cited the ICC’s Anti-Discrimination Code, which prohibits racial abuse and stressed that the policy was “non-negotiable.”
The cricket body said discrimination in any form “will never be tolerated” and accused Coltart of having a “chequered and controversial” cricket history, including his role in the build-up to the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
In a December 31, 2002 opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph titled Politics has no place in sport, so boycott the World Cup, Coltart argued against the ICC’s stance of keeping sport and politics separate.
Ahead of that tournament, ZC said, Coltart met with Andy Flower and Henry Olonga and played a key role in planning the black-armband protest.
