5 – African Nations Boycott Olympics Due To New Zealand’s Rugby Tour of South Africa (1976)
Political tensions reared their head again in 1976, when New Zealand was the center of controversy. 25 African countries decided to boycott the Montreal Summer Games because New Zealand permitted their Rugby team to tour South Africa.
From 1964 onward, South Africa had been banned from participating in the Olympics due to their racist program of Apartheid, and African nations felt that New Zealand were showing their approval of South Africa by sending the Rugby team to that country.