Editing Commonwealth Games (section)

=== Boycotts ===

Much like the [[Olympic Games]], the Commonwealth Games have also experienced boycotts:

[[Nigeria]] boycotted the [[1978 Commonwealth Games]] at [[Edmonton]] in protest of New Zealand's sporting contacts with [[apartheid]]-era South Africa. [[Uganda]] also stayed away, in protest of alleged Canadian hostility towards the government of [[Idi Amin]].<ref name="MacintoshHawes1994"/><ref name="Edmonton">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thecgf.com/games/intro.asp?yr=1978|title=Commonwealth Games Federation – 1978 Commonwealth Games – Introduction|website=thecgf.com|access-date=6 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414194244/http://thecgf.com/games/intro.asp?yr=1978|archive-date=14 April 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:1986 Commonwealth Games (Edinburgh) boycotting countries (red).png|thumb|upright=1.35|Countries that boycotted the 1986 Games are shaded red|alt=|300x300px]]

During the [[1986 Commonwealth Games]] at [[Edinburgh]], a majority of the Commonwealth nations staged a boycott, so that the Games appeared to be a whites-only event. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries—largely African, Asian and Caribbean states—stayed away because of the [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]] government's policy of keeping Britain's sporting links with [[apartheid South Africa]] in preference to participating in the general sporting boycott of that country. Consequently, Edinburgh 1986 witnessed the lowest number of athletes since Auckland 1950.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insidethegames.biz/commonwealth-games/2014/16048-scottish-independence-referendum-will-increase-interest-in-glasgow-2014-it-is-claimed|title=Scottish independence referendum will increase interest in Glasgow 2014, it is claimed &#124; Glasgow 2014|date=29 February 2012|publisher=insidethegames.biz|access-date=9 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120811024929/http://insidethegames.biz/commonwealth-games/2014/16048-scottish-independence-referendum-will-increase-interest-in-glasgow-2014-it-is-claimed|archive-date=11 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The boycotting nations were [[Antigua and Barbuda]], [[Barbados]], [[The Bahamas|Bahamas]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Bermuda]], [[Belize]], [[Cyprus]], [[Dominica]], [[The Gambia|Gambia]], [[Ghana]], [[Guyana]], [[Grenada]], [[India]], [[Jamaica]], [[Kenya]], [[Malaysia]], [[Nigeria]], [[Pakistan]], [[Papua New Guinea]], [[Solomon Islands]], [[Sri Lanka]], [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines|St. Vincent and the Grenadines]], [[Sierra Leone]], [[Saint Kitts and Nevis|St. Kitts and Nevis]], [[Saint Lucia|St. Lucia]], [[Mauritius]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Tanzania]], [[Turks and Caicos Islands]], [[Uganda]], [[Zambia]] and [[Zimbabwe]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-20-mn-17233-story.html|title=8 More Nations Join Boycott of Commonwealth Games; Total Now 23|agency=Reuters|date=20 July 1986|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=23 August 2017|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221010750/http://articles.latimes.com/1986-07-20/news/mn-17233_1_commonwealth-games|archive-date=21 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Bermuda was a particularly late withdrawal, as its athletes appeared in the opening ceremony and in the opening day of competition before the Bermuda Olympic Association decided to formally withdraw.<ref>{{cite news|last=Fraser|first=Graham|date=25 April 2014|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/commonwealth-games/27165110|title=Glasgow 2014: The Bermuda boycott of 1986 that still hurts|work=BBC Sport|access-date=2 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111114123/http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/commonwealth-games/27165110|archive-date=11 November 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>