User:U3025354/Business and Politics of South African Rugby Union

Outline
Politics in South Africa have continually had a heavy influence on sport and throughout the professional age of rugby this has been evident. South African history is littered with racial tension and accordingly strategies have been implemented in an attempt to resolve these issues. Throughout the early professional period in the 90s and early 2000s ‘coloured player quotas’ were placed across the board in sporting teams. However, in recent years the question has been raised as to why these are still in place? From a sporting perspective the key question that arises is that of why one athlete deserves an opportunity due to a ‘quota’ at the expense of an athlete loosing an opportunity he may well have earned? In Late 2010, Oregan Hoskin, the president of the South African Rugby Union stated in a press conference that quotas no longer applied to the Currie Cup competition, although it was urged that provinces took serious consideration, in order to support the union’s broader transformation objectives. It soon came to light that the primary sponsor of the competition was unhappy with the coloured representation in Currie Cup matches, and furthermore it became evident that Hoskin had made this fact known to the provinces. This example presents a very delicate situation with a wide range of factors that must be considered and these will be explored and analysed throughout this paper.