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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 25, 1992                   TAG: 9201250247
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA                                LENGTH: Short

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MAGIC BOYCOTT RULED OUT

Australia's Olympic basketball players will not be allowed to boycott games with the U.S. team if it includes Magic Johnson, who has the AIDS virus, officials said Friday.

It is not definite that Johnson will play at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, this summer, but a doctor for the Australian team suggested a boycott if he does, and some team members were worried.

The Australian Olympic Committee executive director, Perry Crosswhite, issued a statement Friday saying that unilateral action by any members of the basketball team was "out of the question."

Foreign Minister Gareth Evans also told a news conference in Washington that such an idea was unacceptable.

"I am outraged that a comment by a person who has no authority to talk for Australia should have put at risk Australia's excellent reputation for common sense and balance in relation to AIDS," Evans said.

"It's certainly done Australia's image no good at all to have a half-baked and wrong-headed comment of this kind being made," he said.

Johnson retired in November from the Los Angeles Lakers after announcing he had the AIDS virus and has said he would like to play for the U.S. team in the Summer Olympics.

The Australian basketball coach, Adrian Hurley, said it would be up to individual players to decide whether they wanted to play if Johnson were on the court, and that he wouldn't force them.

The virus that causes AIDS is transmitted primarily through blood products and sexual contact.

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