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Posted on 02/09/2008 7:02:03 PM PST by JACKRUSSELL
British athletes will be banned from competing in this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing if they criticise China's totalitarian regime.
The gagging order has been imposed by the British Olympic Association. Competitors who break the rule will not travel to the games or, if they are already in China, will be put on the next plane home.
It means sportsmen and women will be unable to raise concerns about China's human rights record or its occupation of Tibet.
Critics accused the BOA of bowing to political pressure and said that the move raised the spectre of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which passed off without protest and were hailed as a propaganda coup for the Nazi regime.
The reaction is in contrast to other countries, including the United States and Australia, where athletes will be free to speak out about China should they wish to do so. The Prince of Wales will not attend the Beijing games because of concerns over human rights.
Since the 1988 Olympics in Soeul, British competitors have been asked to sign contracts that include a pledge "not to comment on any politically sensitive issues". However, this year's contracts will, for the first time, explicitly refer competitors to Section 51 of the International Olympic Committee charter, which "provides for no kind of demonstration, or political, religious or racial propaganda in the Olympic sites, venues or other areas".
Simon Clegg, the BOA chief executive, said: "There are all sorts of organisations who would like athletes to use the Olympic Games as a vehicle to publicise their causes. I don't believe that is in the interest of the team performance. We are ambassadors of the country and we have to conform to an appropriate code of conduct.
"There is a requirement on team members to sign the agreement......
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
If you cut out their tongues, you won’t have to worry.
LMAO! Cowards, Lemmings, Idiots, etc etc etc...
Banning heck, the Olympics should be boycotted by the free countries of the world.
Is that part of Sharia Law?
So we wont have an Olympics this year if most athletes decide to speak the truth, or bring bibles.
Naw, wont happen, most athletes would lie and give up religious freedom for a chance to compete.
How ‘bout if they just showed up with logos of Chinese Dog Food, Toothpaste, Children’s Toys, Produce and, Dumplings on their jerseys? Would that be better?
So no replicas of the "Goddess of Democracy" statue that the Butchers of Beijing found so threatening will be allowed,I guess.
I can understand China giving that order, but the British?
Talk about no spines.
The Olympics should be non-political.
The Olympics should be non-political.
They should never criticize the Chinese government and never talk favorably about it either; but rather tell every Chinaman how great it is to live in freedom, where human rights protect even prisoners from organ harvests, and people can criticize their governments, etc. There is a way to do this without being thrown out of the Olympics. Play smart!!!
The Moscow Olympics opened a lot of Russian eyes.
If the Olympics really were non-political I might understand it. For some reason they didn’t mind completely banning South Africa but allowing other countries which butchered their own people by the millions.
Go do your sport.
Have fun and meet and talk to friends. Be an ambassador.
Go home with pictures.
If they raise issue with China's occupation of Tibet they should be banned. In fact, on their way home they should be made to first stop in the Islamic countries that border Tibet. China has good reason to be occupying that region.
And many will be surprised to see that on many Chinese have more day-to-day freedom than they do (albeit not political freedom).
I have a bad feeling that the next president will be the one who has to lead us into a war with a China but, if I start making such predictions, I fear I will be labeled an alarmist and once it’s proven true, I’ll be accused of making self-fulfilling prophesies so I’ll just keep my mouth shut and watch.
Remember Zola Bud?
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