WRITTEN QUESTION No. 40/98 by Ulf HOLM to the Council. Nigeria's participation in international sports events
Date: 1998-01-28
Institutions: European Parliament, HOLM
Subjects: EU policy, Nigeria, common position, human rights, international sanctions, military regime, sporting event

17. 7. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 223/91

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0034/98 and E-0035/98
given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(18 February 1998)

The  Commission  would  refer  the  Honourable  Members  to  its  answer  to  Written  Question  P-4231/97  by
Mrs Bloch von Blottnitz (1).

(1)  OJ C 187, 16.6.1998, p. 138.

(98/C 223/115)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0040/98

by Ulf Holm (V) to the Council

(28 January 1998)

Subject: Nigeria(cid:146)s participation in international sports events

By Decision 97/821/CFSP (1) the Council of the European Union extended its earlier decision to exclude Nigeria
from international sports events. Even though this restriction is hardly enough to influence the country(cid:146)s military
dictatorship › it would take an oil embargo to do this › it is a good thing for the EU to distance itself from the
regime in this way. It is therefore very unfortunate that the Council should have given an exemption in respect of
the  1998  football  world  cup.  Few  sports  attract  so  much  international  attention  as  football  and  rejection  of
Nigeria in this connection would not fail to affect the regime. One argument put forward for the decision is that
the tournament had got under way before the common position was defined. But the fact that Nigeria took part in
the qualifying round cannot be allowed to mean that, come what may, it should be given an exemption for the
finals  in  summer  1998!  In  1992,  for  example,  Yugoslavia  was  excluded  from  the  European  championships
because of the civil war although it had already qualified for the finals. In view of this, why should the rules be
changed now?

Does the Council intend to tighten up the restrictions against Nigeria and exclude the country from the 1998
football world cup?

(1)  OJ L 338, 9.12.1997, p. 8.

Answer

(27 April 1998)

The  European  Union  has  repeatedly  expressed  its  grave  concern  at  the  situation  in  Nigeria.  The  Council  of
Ministers reflected this on 28 November 1997 with its decision to extend the EU Common Position on Nigeria of
4 December 1995 (95/544/CSFP) until 1 November 1998.

The Council remains firmly committed to securing change in Nigeria, to which it believes the measures against
Nigeria in Common Position 95/544/CSFP, including the interruption of EU-Nigeria sporting links, are making a
useful  contribution.  The  Council  has  also  taken  careful  note  of  the  Resolution  of  the  European  Parliament
concerning human rights in Nigeria adopted at its 15-19 December 1997 session.

As  host  nation  of  the  World  Cup  finals,  France  had,  before  the  adoption  of  Common  Position  95/544/CSFP,
entered into binding commitments with the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) to admit the
national teams of all those countries which reached the finals. Against this background the Council agreed that
Member States could decide not to apply the ban on sporting links in order to fulfil prior undertakings given in
respect of sporting events organised by international sports federations, that is to say the 1998 world Cup and
matches already organised in preparations for it and also the 1998 World Basketball Championships. But this
implied  no  change  in  EU  policy  towards  Nigeria  and  no  relaxation  of  EU  measures  against  it.  Indeed,  the
Council(cid:146)s  Conclusions  of  28  November  1997  accompanying  the  Decision  to  renew  Common  Position
95/544/CSFP make it clear that if elections in Nigeria this year fail to permit a return to democracy and the rule of
law  before  1  October  1998,  the  EU  will  adopt  measures  in  addition  to  those  adopted  in  Common
Position 95/544/CSFP.