The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 47

46 SPORT www.smh.com.au THURSDAY. AUGUST 12, 1999 Passport to a chance for glory for our foreign legion Norman's anger at 'swiping' of elite events ATHLETICS LOUISE EVANS in Zurich ORLD top-10 pole vaulter Viktor Chistiakov was not the first, nor will he GOLF from Belarus Italian mara-thoner Silvana Trampuz, and Ethiopian contender Mizan Mehari. In a country with a small population and a low athletic base, this new foreign legion is a valued addition in the largest team Australia has sent to a world championships. The three pole vaulters are all ranked in the world top 10 and Markov is counted as a definite medallist by the managers and coaches whose reputations hinge on a four-medal haul in Seville. For most of the fabulous five, getting an Australian passport has been a relatively painless process: serve the required time as a resident or produce the appropriate birth certificate, make the relevant applications, sweat on the outcome and party when the passport arrives.

The day-to-day reality of living in a new land is, of course, not that easy for the immigrants. Language difficulties, cultural differences and family ties can all add up to intense feelings of isolation and doubt For Mehari, in particular, it's been a struggle. The 20-year-old distance runner had to borrow money last month to pay for his passport after his citizenship came through. He arrived in Sydney aged 17 with the 1996 world junior team from Ethiopia and was one of four athletes who didn't go home. He doesn't like to talk about his past, even to his confidante, Australian Institute of Sport distance coach Dick Telford, except to hint at internal conflict and family members in hospital in his former homeland.

"When I met him, six months after he arrived here, he was a little kid but a man of the world," Telford said. "He had competed in Europe and trained with Haile Gebrselassie and. talks to him regularly, the great man himself. "He was very strong-minded for a kid and had firm ideas on training, which is not unexpected as he's trained with some of the best in the world. "He's got incredible drive to succeed and incredible training ability.

He was able to train more intensively than you could risk with a normal squad member. Hard one day and hard the next "He wanted to be the best runner in Australia as quickly as possible. He has a huge running career ahead of him but he wanted it to happen tomorrow he needs a strict program and supervision to hold that keenness." Telford couldn't offer Mehari much at first, until he became a resident and qualified for an AIS scholarship, Mehari couldn't comprehend the delay. He expected the Australian running scene to care for him the way he was looked after in Ethiopia, where an athlete's club pays for everything travel, accommodation and a wage. With no funding or assistance, Mehari began to believe he'd made the wrong decision.

Money was a big issue. What prizemoney he made from road races he sent back to his family. His English was limited and he started studying the language at Dickson College in Canberra so he could go to TAFE, get a trade and a job. On the track, Mehari's determination to make a name for himself led to injury, which held back the career he was desperate to complete. So success came slowly.

He won the national cross country championships in 1997 and the national title this year and has run 1 3min 20.855 over In May, Mehari became an Australian citizen but, according to International Amateur Athletic Federation rules, an athlete can't compete for a new country until he or she has stood out of competition for three years. On this ruling, Mehari got a break. He competed for Ethiopia in Sydney in 1996, but his three-year sit-out ends three days before the heats in Seville. Like the rest of the Australian team's foreign legion, Mehari views his debut in green and gold at the world titles as a new beginning. But before he could leave Australia, he had to get a month's advance on his scholarship money from the AIS to pay for his new passport Having secured the treasured document, Mehari is determined to shine at the world titles so that when he calls home to Australia in future, he won't have to reverse the charges.

World 200m champion Ato Boldon has pulled out of the world championships because of a hamstring injury. be the last, foreign athlete to successfully go passport shopping in Australia in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics. After months of lobbying, Chistiakov was granted citizenship on Tuesday, making him the fifth foreign athlete eligible to compete for Australia at the Seville world championships next week. Joining the latest Australian convert are two other pole vault-ers Chistiakov's wife Tatiana Grigorieva, also from Russia, and training partner Dmitri Markov I. man I Chicago: Greg Norman seethes over his failed bid to give top golfers control over moneymaking events as he watches Tiger Woods and David Duval staging a similar battle now.

Woods and Duval have said they might skip future Ryder Cup events unless the PGA of America allows players to make their own choices of which charities divide the cup profits, set to be $US23 million ($35.3 million) for 1999. The squabble for control could set golfs stars and governing bodies against one another in a fight to control the purse strings. But the battle is nothing new to Norman. The veteran has suffered eight runner-up finishes in major tournaments such as the US PGA championship, the 8 1st staging of which begins on Thursday at Medinah Country Club. But no defeat has ever touched Norman's life like his failed bid in 1 994 to start a series of tournaments in which elite players had direct control of the profits.

Rupert Murdoch would have provided the financial backing in return for the broadcast rights. Small but star-studded fields would take part, mainly during the months when the US PGA Tour shuts down. But the PGA would brook no rivals, and the rank-and-file players who fill most of the fields at most of the events around the world saw the move as a bid to leave them behind in second-class citizen status. Norman watched the PGA vilify his idea, then co-opt the concept to create the World Golf Championships, a set of elite field events with $US5 million purses run by the US PGA Tour. "The whole tour issue sticks in my mind," Norman said.

"People thought I was destroying the game of golf. The response left a bad taste in my mouth. It was just propaganda by the PGA. They wanted control. "I got sad and mad at the same time.

My image was trashed. And look what has happened now." The first world event was a matchplay tournament in February. The next features Ryder and Presidents Cup players in two weeks. The third will be in Spain in November. A world pairs event will be added in 2000, debuting in South Africa.

"Everything I wanted is being done today," Norman said. "The only thing that isn't like I wanted is the players aren't in control." Woods and Duval have had enough of the PGA of America financing its own charities to support golf off the sweat of US players under a cloak of national pride. PGA officials point to the WGC Invitational in Akron, Ohio, in two weeks and point out that it provides money to Ryder Cup players, with a last-place prize. But Woods points out that the money is won only if you play at that event as well, meaning the Ryder Cup is still an event where players compete to benefit charities of the PGA's choosing. "That one reason in itself shows you that it's not being run the way it could be," Woods said.

"On top of that, it's another tournament that has its own ticket sales, its own funds and its owti revenue sources." Norman said he saw no way the PGA Tour-operated world series could become the elite player vehicle he conceived. But he also doesn't see the end of the Ryder Cup over the fight between the PGA and its stars. "Look at the history of the event," he said. "You have got to take in the tradition and the heritage of what the event stands for. If the US wins, then all this other stuff will probably be forgotten." AFP RICHARD HINDS ON THE MARK Fanning flames of 'hooliganism' Screams of "hooliganism" followed two crowd-related incidents last weekend An empty plastic soft drink bottle hit Carlton's Ron De Iulio as he walked up the race at Subiaco Oval and Eiagles coach Michael Malthouse had his hair ruffled by a cocky Essendon supporter as he walked onto the MCG after his team had lost to the Bombers.

While it is alarming that fans see fit to interfere with players and coaches, it was the sort of "unruly behaviour" a lot of English soccer teams would love to have. GROUND WAR: The AFL will have to deal with some unhappy clubs when the 2000 fixture list comes out (probably in late August). Because of the Western Bulldogs' move from Optus Oval to Docklands, six clubs other than Carlton have been scheduled to play at least one "home" game at Optus Oval because of an AFL agreement for a minimum of 1 6 games there each year. While the Blues iasist they will stay at the suburban ground, it has become unpopular with other supporters and only about 1 5,000 attended the match between the Bulldogs and St Kilda there last Sunday. E9G BEN STAKES: Geelong super-boot Ben Graham made himself the centre of attention with his giant torpedo punt (measured at 84.6 metres) at Kardinia Park last weekend.

Graham, who has a standing offer to trial as a punter with the New York Jets, says he will pursue a National Football League career hen his AFL days end. Collingwood (with first pick in the preseason draft) and Sydney (with a Lockett-sizcd hole in their salary cap) have been linked with Graham as he comes out of contract at the end of the season. But the Swans, in the market for a quality key defender, are believed to have been discouraged by the fact Graham recently bought a new home in Geelong. EAGLES SOURCE: A straight-faced report on Channel 10 in Perth told of how Michael Malthouse had not yet decided whether he would leave the Eagles at the end of the season, played down speculation that "Malthouse" was fielding offers from other clubs and basically failed to take the story beyond what had appeared already in the morning papers. Which must mean Malthouse keeps pretty quiet about things at the breakfast table, because the reporter was his daughter, Christi.

DONE DEAL: There is, however, some strong mail that Malthouse will coach Collingwood next year. While Malthouse still has a year to run on his contract in Perth and Magpies president Eddie McGuire is refusing to comment on the club's search for a replacement for Tony Shaw, some insiders would have us believe the Malthouse deal is almost done. UNMARKED SWAN: The names of three potential candidates for the vacant seat on the AFL Commission were aired at a meeting of club presidents on Monday former South Melbourne ruckman Graeme John, Sydney-based former Hawk Chris Langford and former Victorian treasurer Alan Stock-dale. No mention was made of the Swans' influential president Richard Colless. "We don't consider current club presidents," said AFL boss Wayne Jackson.

Of course, the man the AFL is trying to replace, David Shaw, stepped aside as Essendon president to take his seat on the commission. But it is believed that even if Colless wanted to join the commission he is considered more valuable to the AFL as Swans president and a member of the NSW Commissioa QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "It would be fair to say they are not the best of mates at the moment" AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson, summing up relations between the Swans and the Kangaroos. 'XT Looking at the end of a great career Tony Lockett leaves the SCG yesterday after announcing he would retire at the end of this season. Photograph by craig golding There IS only one Tony Lockett, writes Richard Hinds, and filling his big boots at the end of the season will be a huge task for the Swans. pr -T ITH Tony Lock-f ett's retirement imminent, specula- Vy tin nas raged among Australian with the likes of Matthew Nicks, Greg Stafford, Michael O'Loughlin all in their early to mid-20s being used in promotional roles.

With Kelly reaching his twilight years, perhaps the most likely new "face of the Swans" is Aboriginal forward O'Loughlin who was runner-up in the Cleo Bachelor of the Year and nominated in Wlio Weekly's 25 most beautiful people earlier this year. "Those sorts of things all come on the back of what Tony has done up here, he certainly got the ball rolling in those off-field areas," Swans communications manager Stephen Brassel said. The strategy has had some success. Four years ago, about 80 per cent of all requests from sponsors and the public were for Lockett "It's probably still about 50 per cent now," Brassel said. "But when we offer them another player to do something they are happy to take them.

They've heard of Troy Luff and Wayne Schwass and Matthew Nicks." Heard of them. Admired them. But probably never considered a hair transplant because of them. There is, after all, only one Tony Lockett Football League insiders about who would be anointed to take his place. Which high-priced recruit would back up the removalist van and move north to fill the great man's boots? The Swans have been linked to, among others, Essendon's Matthew Lloyd, Richmond's Matthew Richardson and the Kangaroos' Corey McKernan some on the basis of offers put on the table, others by merely checking their availability with agents.

Yet, continuing a trend where top players are now choosing to stay with their clubs, all opted to re-sign. So, as the player market heats up before November's national draft, you can be assured the Swans will also be rumoured to have taken out to lunch just about every high-profile player who is yet to sign on the dotted line. The truth, however, is somewhat more sobering for Swans fans hoping to sew the number of a big-name recruit onto their guernseys next year. While Lockett virtually fell into the Swans' arms when Collingwood decided not to sign him there was also speculation the AFL played a helping hand in getting Lockett to Sydney the Swans' ability to replace him with a ready-made superstar is severely limited by the number of such superstars available (and remember Lockett is one of the best players of all time) and the AFL's trading mechanism. Under the present system, clubs must either trade players andor draft picks for players or take an uncontracted player in the preseason draft in which the Swans are likely to have no better than the eighth choice.

"You might look at a high-profile player, but the reality is how do you get that player?" said Swans general manager (football) Colin Seery. "There is the question of a) do they want to move and b) compensating their club." A major reason the Swans have already been involved in most trade speculation is that when they remove Lockett's annual pay cheque (estimates start at $450,000 a season) from their salary cap and allow for the fact that captain Paul Kelly and forward Dale Lewis next year will go on the "veterans' meaning only half their salary is counted in the cap, the Swans are perceived to have better leverage than any other club. "That's not necessarily the case," Seery said. "Other players develop, the market rates increase and, in the last 12 months, we have re-signed a lot of players as part of our strategy to ensure players don't come out of contract" So, unless that increasingly rare commodity, a ready-made full-forward, becames available the Swans are unlikely to seek a direct replacement for Lockett. Rather, coach Rodney Eade said that in the short term the likes of Stefan Carey and Adam Goodes could play in the position, while the Swans have in rookie Ryan Fitzgerald and 204 cm recruit Stephen Doyle two tall players who could play a role in attack.

With the "Lockett types" harder to find, the trend in recent years has been for clubs to field smaller, rotating forward lines, something that has become even more fashionable since the Adelaide Crows won two grand finals without a recognised spearhead. "I think youH find we swap it around a fair bit," Eade said. "The names like Carey and Goodes are nominal full-forwards but they would be part of a rotation." Off the field, the Swans have had a long-term strategy to gradually reduce Lockett's once crucial role in marketing and "brand Some officials concede that his AFL record goal and all the extra focus it placed on Lockett came at a bad time because it put him back in the spotlight while the club was trying to phase him out The plan has been to take the emphasis away from a single player and market the Swans as a group Push for South African reform is as plain as black and white Cape Town on Monday for a special training session. Nearly 2,000 blacks turned up to watch the Springboks and to tell them to listen to the public. One of the organisers, Brian Figaji, who had invited the players to train at his club, said it was about time the Springboks made themselves part of the community.

"I would like to see the team being more representative and I don't accept all the excuses they are coming up with," Figaji said. Just down the road at a function to honour many of the veterans of the "blacks only" Western Province Rugby Union and the South African Rugby Union, the underlying tensions were evident Several said they still could not support their national team. Former SARU referee Abdul Kar-iem explained: "I will never support a team which is unrepresentative. I support any team that's playing the Springboks. Eighty-five per cent of our black players would have made the white English press, has pushed for a greater representation of blacks and Coloureds in all Currie Cup and South African teams.

They argue it is the only way to show that South Africa has matured and can properly accept the privileges that go with international sport Some South African rugby writers have even argued that the quota system should be far more extensive. They say quality black and Coloured players are already there. They need only to be identified and given the proper chance. That argument has validity when you consider that the final line-up of the successful South African under-21 team at the recent Southern Hemisphere tournament in Argentina included five black or Coloured players, two of them front-rowers. As welL they have the support of the majority.

This general feeling emerged when the Springboks went to a black area of "one people one There was even a Coloured, Chester Williams, in the squad. Four years on, there are only two non-whites in the Springbok squad Deon Kayser and Paulse. Naturally, the pressure has intensified from the population and the national government Both believe that the black domination of the country should be reflected in its most famous sporting team not by a token selection of one or two, but a majority of Coloured and blacks in the Springbok colours. Easier said than done. In many parts of South Africa, rugby is not the sport of the blacks.

Soccer is. Where it is strong is in the Cape district In that area many Coloureds treat rugby as their No 1 sport, which has led to rise of Williams and Paulse. The detractors say if the quality black players aren't there, how can you pick them? By selecting second-rate black or Coloured players, just to be politically correct all one does is lower the standards, turning the Springboks into an international laughing stock. It also encourages selection without merit, placing' Mallett in the no-win situation of picking players he doesn't want If he does pick them, he is patronising. If he doesn't, he can be accused of being a racist That is the general argument of the diehard opponents of the quota system.

Naturally, the pushers of this line are Afrikaner hardliners, already annoyed they have lost their country, their language and their game is now under pressure from a race which for so long were their servants. So it was no surprise when Free State recently claimed the SARFU had jeopardised their chances of winning the Currie Cup by forcing them to have a black player on the reserves bench. However, those pushing for proper integration and an end to the prejudicial heart of South African sport, have strong allies. The South African press, especially ranks ensuring it was the international vehicle to show off white supremacy. Although South Africa's international isolation ended in 1992, the issue has always been near the surface.

First there was the drama of Die Stem being played at the "readmis-sion" Test against the All Blacks at Ellis Park, then the threat of the Wallabies going home because of African National Congress opposition, and finally Springbok coach Andre Mark-graaf being sacked for privately criticising "kaffirs" well after the country had stopped being a white-rule regime and had become a black-led democracy. Now current coach Nick Mallett has been criticised for describing the selection of Coloured player Breyton Paulse as one of "merit with Since 1992, the South African Rugby Football Union has tried to turn rugby into a truly representative sport Throughout the 1995 World Cup, the Springboks brainwashed everyone into believing that South Africa was rugby GREG GROWDEN in Cape Town IT HAS been described as apartheid in reverse a less than subtle form of racial engineering. Again South Africa is divided on a colour issue, and again it revolves around Springbok rugby. The introduction of a controversial quota system, under which from next season every Currie Cup team must have at least three black squad members with two on the field at all times has prompted heated debate in South Africa, desperately trying to prove to the world it is no longer a nation shackled by racism. For so long, rugby in South Africa was an outright promoter of apartheid, with numerous high-ranking officials doing everything in their power to stop a black wearing a Springbok jersey.

For decades, the Broederbond, a secret Afrikaner society, ruled with its tentacles reaching deep into the rugby 2 today's Springbok team with ease." In the letters to the editor in Tuesday's Cape Argus newspaper came another stinger. Jonathan Eagles wrote that "the black, Coloured and Indian population groups of this country made all the sacrifices as far as sport is concerned. Since the first cricket World Cup in 1992, whites have been reaping the benefits in every aspect "We cannot wait another year to implement change. Half the players in the 1999 World Cup squad must be black, or else the white team stays right here. We are good enough to play as blacks against Maoris but not good enough to represent South Africa.

Clear up the lily-white sports." That's why on Saturday at New-lands, Australia will be cheered on not just by expatriates but a healthy number of locals. As far as these Capetonians are concerned, the Springboks are not yet their national team..