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Zimbabwe will be allowed by the British Government to take part in the 2012 Olympic Games in London if the troubled African nation cancel their 2009cricket tour of England.

High-level diplomatic talks are under way to thrash out a deal amid concerns that an outright ban on Zimbabwe taking part in the series could lead to a wider African boycott of the London Games.

The England and Wales Cricket Board are understood to be working closely with the Government to find a way to call off the tour, with one source saying there was “no way” the Zimbabwean team would be allowed to set foot on British soil.

But negotiations are sensitive because of growing fears Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe may pull his team out of future sporting events, including cricket’s World Twenty20 Championship, also scheduled for England in 2009, and the London Olympics. Other African nations, particularly South Africa, could then follow suit.

Unlike the Olympics, in which virtually every nation in the world will be represented, a cricket tour would focus the full spotlight on Zimbabwe.

Whitehall sources say ministers are determined not to “abandon” the ECB as the cricketing authorities felt Tony Blair did ahead of the 2004 one-day tour to Zimbabwe, when little concrete help was given by the Government. The trip went ahead amid chaotic scenes, with Mugabe enjoying the opportunity to crow over the former colonial power.

advertisementThe need to tread carefully means that Downing Street and the Foreign Office are publicly insisting the final decision will remain with the ECB, who they say have been “made aware” of the Government’s view that the tour would be unwelcome.

But a source told The Daily Telegraph: “We’re all very much on the same page now - negotiations have been going on for some months. The Government is giving the cricketing authorities very close support. Basically, there is no way Mugabe is going to be allowed to let his team play here.

“The major problem now is ensuring that does not give him any kind of perceived justification to accuse the old colonial power of slighting Zimbabwe - and stirring up a storm which results in the whole of Africa boycotting 2012.”

An agreement negotiated through the International Cricket Council would also mean a massively reduced penalty for the ECB, from as much as £2 million to £220,000.

While Zimbabwe observers fear that Mugabe will be reluctant to lose an opportunity to make trouble, the ECB hope he will be persuaded to consent to the plan. The regime may be keen to receive an immediate cash injection of around £250,000 in foreign currency.

Sources suggest talks have taken place via the South African High Commission to gain Zimbabwe’s consent to the cancellation of the tour - a claim denied by the Foreign Office. But the ECB and ICC have held talks with the Zimbabweans in Johannesburg about the matter.