Following years of protests from various national sides, South Africa were expelled from the Davis Cup for failing to abandon its apartheid policies.

For many years the Davis Cup organisers had been reluctant to let political issues affect the competition, however following several years of defaults by national teams and threats of a boycott, the organisers of the tournament were forced to resolve the political disagreements by expelling the South African side.

[1] Canada, Mexico, Venezuela and the Caribbean/West Indies teams had all pulled out of the 1978 tournament, and in 1977 the United States, Great Britain and France had all withdrawn in protest to the continued politicisation of the Cup before eventually re-entering following concessions.

[2][3] South Africa would not be allowed to participate again in the Davis Cup until 1992, when significant progress had been made to bring about the end of apartheid.

The final was held at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, United States on 14–16 December.