Olympic Telecasts Are Restricted to 15 Minutes a Day in South Africa

South Africa’s international isolation grows ever worse.

According to Gert Le Roux, the director of the South African Athletic Union, the International Olympic Committee has directed that the South African television network be allocated only 15 minutes a day of the feed from the Games at Seoul, starting next Saturday.

“Despite our interest, and our ability to pay for the rights, the IOC won’t let us watch the Games,” Le Roux said Friday from his office in Pretoria.

Le Roux also said that South African tourists have been asked to leave Seoul.

“These are not athletic officials, they are businessmen and tourists,” Le Roux said. “These people are being told to leave. They have to forfeit their hotel deposits and give up their tickets. This is what happened to us in Los Angeles in 1984.”

He said that he and other South African sports officials had hoped to attend the Seoul Games but added: “Our travel agent told us it would not be advisable. This is very harsh and very severe.”