 Though Egyptian control was rather nominal it did mean the territory fell to the Foreign Office, not the Colonial Office, and, by definition, the Colonial Administrative Service could not operate there either.The result was the SPS, which stood at the top of the imperial tree alongside the Indian Political Service.The SPS was very selective in recruitment but favoured champion sportsmen rather than scholars, leading to the popular adage of the time was that Sudan was a country of 'blacks ruled by Blues', after the colours awarded to sports teams captains at Oxbridge.