Zola Budd and Annette Cowley are banned from the Commonwealth Games

Date: 13 Jul 1986
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Zola Budd and Annette Cowley are banned from the Commonwealth Games

On 13 July 1986 Commonwealth Games officials in London ruled that two South African born athletes, Zola Budd and Annette Cowley, could not participate in the Commonwealth Games as athletes for England. The Commonwealth Games was to commence in July of the same year (1986) in Edinburgh, Scotland. The governing body of Games were already faced with the boycott of five black African nations - Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. This was direct consequence of Britain's refusal to support economic sanctions against the apartheid government of South Africa.

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How we know this

01Anon, (n.d.), ‘Budd, Swimmer Banned From Games In Scotland’from Daily News [online] Available at www.articles.philly.com [Accessed: 06 July 2011]
02Boddy-Evans A. (2011), ‘This Day in African History: 13 July’ from African History [online] Available at www.africanhistory.about.com [Accessed: 06 July 2011]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, July 7). Zola Budd and Annette Cowley are banned from the Commonwealth Games. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0065545

South African History Online (2011) 'Zola Budd and Annette Cowley are banned from the Commonwealth Games', South African History Online, 7 July. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0065545 (Accessed: 25 July 2026).

South African History Online, Zola Budd and Annette Cowley are banned from the Commonwealth Games [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0065545, (accessed 25 July 2026).

"Zola Budd and Annette Cowley are banned from the Commonwealth Games." South African History Online, 7 July 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0065545. Accessed 25 July 2026.

South African History Online. "Zola Budd and Annette Cowley are banned from the Commonwealth Games." South African History Online. July 7, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0065545.