In the Gleneagles Agreement, in 1977, Commonwealth presidents and prime ministers agreed, as part of their support for the international campaign against

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, to discourage contact and competition between their sportsmen and sporting organisations, teams, or individuals from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. The agreement was unanimously approved by the Commonwealth of Nations at a meeting at Gleneagles, Perthshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The Gleneagles Agreement reinforced their commitment, embodied in the Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth Principles (1971), to oppose racism. This commitment was further strengthened by the Declaration on Racism and Racial Prejudice, adopted by Commonwealth leaders in Lusaka in 1979. The Commonwealth was a relevant body to impose a sporting ban on South Africa because several of the sports most popular among white South Africans are dominated by Commonwealth member states, for example

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

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*{{citation , url=http://thecommonwealth.org/sites/default/files/inline/GleneaglesAgreement.pdf , title=The Gleneagles Agreement on Sporting Contacts with South Africa , date=1977 , publisher=Commonwealth , location=London International opposition to apartheid in South Africa History of the Commonwealth of Nations History of Perth and Kinross Commonwealth sports competitions Events associated with apartheid Politics and sports 1977 in politics 1977 in sports 1977 in Scotland 1977 in international relations South Africa–United Kingdom relations Rugby union and apartheid

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