AfriForum and Solidarity have lodged an official complaint against racial quotas and political interference in South African rugby with World Rugby.

AfriForum, an Afrikaner civil rights movement, and Solidarity, the trade union, plan to lodge similar complaints with the International Cricket Council‚ the International Netball Federation‚ the International Olympic Committee and the International Association of Athletics Federations.

'AfriForum is realistic about the fact that the lodging of the complaint is not a quick fix‚ but it serves as a strong start to an ongoing process to accomplish international opposition to racial quotas‚' said AfriForum spokesman Henk Maree.

Maree said the interference by South African politicians in sport was 'merely a tactic to gain cheap exposure in promoting their own agendas'.

He added: 'The only way in which politicians can make a sustainable contribution to sport is to focus on the responsible spending of funds to develop the talents of young athletes – regardless of their race.'

Maree pointed out that political interference and racial discrimination are expressly forbidden by World Rugby’s rules and regulations.

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