Rugby Chief Quits in Showdown Over Race

The country’s rugby chief resigned, a step toward resolving a crisis that highlighted the nation’s racial divisions and threatened to isolate its white-dominated team. Louis Luyt, president of the South African Rugby Football Union, officially resigned by notifying the union’s headquarters, said Anthony Mackaiser, a spokesman for the group. But that does not end the showdown between the rugby union and the National Sports Council, the country’s sports oversight committee. The dispute goes far beyond sports and has even personally involved President Nelson Mandela.