London - The controversial battle to secure British citizenship for Zola Budd in 1984 sparked a rift between Britishcabinet ministers, files released on Thursday reveal.
The South African athlete – who famously ran barefoot – was banned from competing in the Olympics because of her country’s then apartheid policy.
The Daily Mail launched a campaign to secure a UK passport for the 17-year-old, whose grandfather was born in Britain, so she could go to the Games in Los Angeles.
But the episode triggered a war between ministers in Margaret Thatcher’s government when the Home Office clashed with the Foreign Office over her treatment.
The story of the behind-the-scenes row can be told for the first time after the National Archives in Kew released previously secret files. Following the Mail’s intervention, then Home Secretary Leon Brittan personally oversaw Budd’s application, which was processed and granted within ten days.
He admitted she had ‘jumped the queue’ but said if she had been left to wait then her application would have taken months and denied her the chance to compete. However, the Foreign Office had serious concerns that singling her out for special treatment would undermine Britain’s anti-apartheid stance.
It also felt the government was being ‘railroaded’ and that the case was damaging international relations. The wrangling over the affair went right up to secretary of state level, the files reveal.
Letters from then-foreign secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe to Brittan – and copied to Thatcher – show his thinly-veiled frustration.
He even urged his Cabinet colleague ‘to avoid giving the appearance of an unseemly rush’ over the decision and pleaded with him to delay it.
A draft letter from Howe to Brittan in March 1984 said: ‘I think the consequences for the Government could be very damaging if we laid ourselves open to the charge that this young girl was receiving special treatment, gifted and exceptional though she may be.’
He warned the move could lead to possible withdrawals by other nations from the Olympics and the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, adding: ‘To give exceptional treatment to a South African national to enable her to avoid the sporting restrictions... will be seen as a cynical move which will undermine that good faith.
‘We will be open to charges by South Africa of double standards and duplicity.’
The file reveals officials in South Africa came under ‘intense pressure’ to admit those with similar citizenship claims.
Other letters reveal fears the government would be portrayed as an ‘unfeeling bureaucracy crushing a unique talent’ if Budd was not allowed to compete for Britain. But it would also be seen to be using a ‘device to circumvent anti-apartheid politics’.
Despite being urged to delay his decision, Brittan pressed ahead.
Budd registered as a British citizen in April 1984 and ran for Great Britain in the 3,000m in Los Angeles. In one of the most famous moments in Olympic history, rival runner Mary Decker tripped and blamed Budd, though she later conceded it was an accident.
Daily Mail