SYDNEY, Australia -- Australia's chances of staging the 1996 Summer Olympics in Melbourne may be jeopardized because five South Africans will play in the Australian Open tennis championships.
Eighteen members of the International Olympic Committee, including four black Africans, will be in Melbourne to inspect the proposed venues in January. The Australian Open begins Jan. 15.
The Melbourne organizers of the visit failed to go through the entry list for the Open and did not realize there were South Africans in the field.
If the South Africans -- Christo van Rensburg, Peter Aldrich, Dicky van Rensburg, Ros Fairbank and Lise Gregory -- are permitted to play, there could be an adverse reaction to the Melbourne bid from African countries.
Australian tennis administrators have rejected suggestions the South Africans should be banned from the first of the 1990 Grand Slam titles.
'Any such move would bring an immediate reaction from the Grand Slam committee,' a senior tennis official said Monday.
An important part of the controversy is the South African players have been issued their visas by the Australian government, ensuring they will be able to compete in the tournament.
Opinion is divided among some Australian Olympic officials about the reaction of the delegates to the South Africans playing in the Open. Some officials believe the South African presence will not hinder Melbourne's bid for the Games.
Apart from Melbourne, five other cities have applied for the 1996 Games -- Athens, Greece; Manchester, England; Belgrade, Yugoslavia; Atlanta and Toronto. Athens is the sentimental favorite to host the Games because 1996 marks the centennial of the modern Olympics.
One argument expected to be raised in Melbourne is professional players are free agents and should be able to play anywhere they decide.
'The South Africans will be there in their own right,' a tennis official said Monday.
Concentrated demonstrations are expected by protestors opposed to South Africans competing in any sporting event in Australia.
In the early rounds of the 1988 and 1989 Australian Open, protestors staged mild demonstrations against South African players. They carried protest placards outside the stadium and interupted play by throwing black balls onto the center court during play.
