Zimbabwe was only four years into its existence as an independent nation when President Robert Mugabe offered his views on cricket. "It civilises people and creates good gentlemen," he claimed. "I want everyone to play cricket in Zimbabwe. I want ours to be a nation of gentlemen." Eighteen years on it is estimated that almost half that nation is suffering food shortages that verge on famine, largely a result of the confiscation of white-owned farms, and opposition to the government carries very real dangers. More than 200 of Mugabe's political opponents have been murdered and Morgan Tsvangirai, the government's principal rival, is awaiting trial for allegedly plotting to assassinate the president, a charge he denies.

Some civilisation!

But what, you ask, has this to do with cricket? Sport and politics, as the adage goes, should not be mixed, a sentiment echoed by Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, who stressed on his arrival in Zimbabwe at the end of November that he was unconcerned with political matters.

"It is not our function to evaluate the political regime of any of our members," he said. Rather, the brief of the 15-strong ICC delegation was to assess the country's security precautions ahead of the six World Cup group matches scheduled to be played there in February.

The irony should not be lost that when England take on Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on February 13 (unless the ICC decrees otherwise), Mugabe will be banned from entering England, a consequence of the European Union disputing the legality of Zanu-PF's last election victory, and Tony Blair will be forbidden from entering Zimbabwe. Speed and his delegation, which included the chief executives of the six national boards whose teams are due to play World Cup matches in Zimbabwe (England, Australia, India, Pakistan, Namibia and Holland), are unlikely to have found the security threats within the country too great.

Their three-day visit concentrated on the cricket grounds in Harare and Bulawayo. Furthermore there will have been a shared reluctance to remove Zimbabwe as co-hosts of tournament in which they have invested an enormous amount of hope and money. What was not made clear, however, was which security fears were being investigated – the players' or the travelling supporters'. Players will almost certainly be safe, moving as they will between five-star hotel, ground and airport for the duration of their stay. Supporters, on the other hand, could – if they so choose – see a very different Zimbabwe. The Foreign Office gives unequivocal advice on its website. "We advise all British nationals in Zimbabwe to keep a low political profile and to exercise caution when travelling," it says. "Because of current uncertainty in the security situation and the countrywide severe food shortages we advise against independent travel."

True, most cricket supporters nowadays travel as part of organised tours, but the dangers remain very real. It is inevitable that an open-eyed visitor will leave the country with a very different impression from that promoted in the holiday brochure.

Is it ethically right, therefore, to hold a lucrative sporting event, in which competitors, administrators and spectators are bound to be well catered for, in a country in which people – a good many of them of British ancestry – are being systematically impoverished and robbed of their livelihood, and beaten or worse because of their political beliefs?

The recent denial of visas for two British journalists to accompany the ICC on its inspection highlighted the routine suppression of any media criticism of the country. Only with the express permission of the Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, can a foreign journalist work there.

Of far greater concern, however, was the recent complaint of international charities such as Oxfam and Save the Children that they were being prevented from distributing food aid to starving rural communities that are known to oppose the ruling Zanu-PF party. But there is a counter-argument to the above. Quite apart from the debate on whether a sporting event has the right to question the political situation of the country in which it is to be staged, the future of Zimbabwean cricket is at stake.

The outlook already seems bleak, but the loss of a tournament for which the Zimbabwe Cricket Union has invested massively in ground redevelopments would, in all probability, prove terminal.

One final irony. The ZCU's patron is none other than Robert Mugabe. Sport and politics not mixing? Don't be daft.

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