1977 Davis Cup

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the Davis Cup had been affected by a number of protests and defaults by teams showing their opposition to the apartheid policies and white minority rule in South Africa and Rhodesia, and the human rights violations which occurred in Chile under Augusto Pinochet's military junta. Several high profile incidents included Mexico's repeated refusal to play against South Africa in the 1975 and 1976 Americas Zones; widespread protests in Sweden against the Pinochet junta during the 1975 Inter-Zonal semifinal between Sweden and Chile; and South Africa's victory by default at the 1974 tournament when India refused to travel to South Africa for the final.[3][4][5]

This show of political will in a sporting context was not welcomed by some, and for a brief time the United States, the inaugural winner of the cup, announced their decision to withdraw from the competition entirely due to the apparent lenience of the tournament's organisers to prevent defaults by teams. In a show of solidarity, Great Britain and France also announced their intentions to withdraw.[6] In response, the Davis Cup committee made a greater commitment to keep politics out of the competition and disqualified the Soviet Union, which had refused to play against Chile in the 1976 Inter-Zonal semifinals and had already been barred from competing in the Federation Cup for refusing to play against South Africa and Rhodesia, from the tournament. Proposals were also brought forward to bring in an automatic one-year ban for any nation which pulled out of the tournament after the draw had been made, in an effort to prevent teams from defaulting on political grounds.[7] The United States, Great Britain and France all eventually returned and competed in the 1977 tournament.

• Davis Cup Official Website