Basildon Peta: England's naive decision will bring comfort to Mugabe

Robert Mugabe could not have hoped for a better Christmas present. While the President of Zimbabwe continues killing opponents and demonstrating his disregard for the rule of law, the International Cricket Council (ICC) rewards him for his acts of terrorism on his people.

Incredible as it is, England will now play its World Cup cricket matches in Zimbabwe next year.

In Harare, the team will play at a cricket groundthat is a stone's throw from Mr Mugabe's plush official residence, Zimbabwe House. A few kilometres away in surrounding townships, Mr Mugabe's youth brigades – the so-called greenbombers – will most probably be at work. Not only will they beat opponents, they will strive to foil any opposition meetings ahead of two by-elections expected in the capital at about the same time as the cricket World Cup in February 2003.

In rural areas, the greenbombers may be even busier – raping women and girls whose parents support the opposition, and torturing opponents at camps.

It is doubtful Mr Mugabe, an ardent cricket fan, will attend the England matches. But while he enjoys the comforts of Zimbabwe House, I can imagine what will be going through his mind. "Another defeat for little Tony Blair, that gay gangster". But his glee comes at a cost. Millions of starving Zimbabweans, whose case might have been helped by a major international sports boycott of Zimbabwe, will continue to live in poverty while the England cricket players toast their probable victories.

Many of us who have sought to reverse Zimbabwe's continued slide into anarchy and misrule have urged the international community to halt its torrent of ineffectual rhetoric and to implement serious steps to rein in Mr Mugabe.

But there can be no better illustration that we are fighting a losing battle than the ICC's decision to let Zimbabwe proceed as a host. We might as well shut our mouths and rest our pens. The ICC's decision is at best insensitive, at worst naive.

While popular wisdom states that sports sanctions alone are inadequate in reforming repressive regimes, their moral power is incontestable.

Sports sanctions were effective against South Africa's apartheid regime. Their moral power could have been brought to bear on Mr Mugabe. But not in the ICC's shameful scheme of things.

Basildon Peta fled Zimbabwe earlier this year