U.S. Spikes Soviets’ Bid to See Volleyball Match

The State Department on Thursday denied permission to Soviet diplomats to travel to Daly City--a few miles south of their San Francisco consulate--to watch their nation’s Olympic volleyball team in action against U.S. Olympians.

The department, contending that the Soviets do not play the diplomacy game fairly, rejected the diplomats’ request for a waiver of the travel restrictions that make Daly City--and the sensitive Silicon Valley to the south--off limits to Soviet officials.

Tonight’s match at the Cow Palace arena in Daly City is the last in a series of three this week. The U.S. team, which captured the gold medal in last year’s Los Angeles Olympic Games, won the first two matches. The Soviet Union boycotted the Los Angeles Games.

Tass, the official Soviet news agency, accused the United States of allowing political considerations to “spoil the sports festival.”

Americans Restricted

But State Department spokesman Charles Redman said that the hard line was enforced because U.S. officials in Leningrad have been denied permission to travel in restricted Soviet areas three times in the last six weeks.

“We have on numerous occasions tested Soviet good will by granting closed-area exceptions based on their assurances that similar exceptions would be granted for our diplomats,” Redman said. “These assurances have gone unfulfilled, and we intend to wait for the Soviets to make good on these promises.”

Mike Wright, tour coordinator for the U.S. Volleyball Assn., said he was upset by the State Department’s decision. Local officials tried to persuade the department to change its ruling, he said, but their efforts were futile.

“The whole theme of this match is the two nations playing by the rules,” Wright said. “We were going to approach this with the spirit of cooperation and that’s difficult to do without the other side there.”

Close to San Francisco

Wright said the Cow Palace is so close to the city limits of San Francisco that Soviet officials are actually allowed on the outskirts of the arena’s grounds.

But, he said, “they can’t cross the parking lot to get into the arena.”

Wright said he is looking to other events that would bring the Soviets and Americans closer. Athletes from the opposing squads teamed up Thursday afternoon to face a group of San Francisco celebrities in a bowling tournament, he said. Soviet and American athletes each rolled half of every frame in an effort to show that they were on the same team.

The athletes and officials planned a dinner cruise on the bay Thursday night--careful not to cross established marine boundaries where Soviet diplomats are barred.

Select areas of the country were closed by the United States 30 years ago, when the Soviets refused to lift their own travel restrictions. Redman said that waivers of the rule are granted “on the basis of reciprocity.”

‘An Unfriendly Move’

Tass reported that the State Department decision was “an unfriendly move . . . prompted by purely political considerations.” The Soviet news agency also said that the absence of Soviet officials created security risks for athletes and put the team at a disadvantage.

The Soviet athletes are national heroes, and the diplomats were disappointed that they would miss a chance to watch them play.

“Maybe I’ll just watch the match by TV,” said one consulate employee, who would not give his name. “It is a pity, though.”