Olympics Panel Studies South Africa

The International Olympic Committee has ordered a study of prospects for readmitting South Africa to the games after reforms in apartheid, the IOC president said in an interview published today.

Juan Antonio Samaranch told the Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport that the African Olympic Assn. has been asked to report on the problem after consulting sports associations representing every race in South Africa.

“We were the first sports organization to close the door on segregationist South Africa in 1970. Now we note the changes there and we would be truly happy one day to be the first to open that door. But to do this we need the advice and approval of African countries,” Samaranch said.

Samaranch also said he has invited East European Olympic associations and sports ministers to IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 21 to discuss the effect on sports of radical political changes in their countries.

Samaranch, commenting on the rapid political changes that are taking place in the world, said that communist nations in Europe and Latin America have used sports for propaganda but that this is changing fast. Now, he said, they are moving toward sports for the masses.

“But I believe that these ex-communist countries will still succeed in achieving good results in the Olympics or world championships because they have a tradition,” he said.