Fly the flag for Tibet and you could be out, athletes warned (by IOC)

[truthpusher]

Source: Times Online UK

Fly the flag for Tibet and you could be out, athletes warned

Athletes who display Tibetan flags at Olympic venues — including in their own rooms — could be expelled from this summer’s Games in Beijing under anti-propaganda rules.

Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said that competitors were free to express their political views but faced sanctions if they indulged in propaganda.

(snip)

The IOC did not specify whether a Chinese athlete or a foreign competitor of Tibetan origin flying the Tibetan flag would be regarded as patriotic or propagandist. A spokeswoman said that there had been no discussion internally or with the Chinese authorities about use of the Tibetan national flag. Asked whether athletes would be allowed to hang the flag in their rooms, she said: “The village is an Olympic venue so it falls under the same rules and regulations of any venue which would mean that anything in there would be judged on whether it was a provocative propaganda initiative.”

The fact that the IOC has still not qualified the exact interpretation of “propaganda” means that some athletes remain confused about what they can say during the 16-day event without being sent home or stripped of a medal.



Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article3724308.ece

[Lint Head]

1. The Olympics will not happen in China.

[tridim]

4. If it does happen it's going to be a major disaster.

This really sucks.

[onehandle]

2. Fuck you, IOC. Maybe you shouldn't have rewarded China with the Olympics.

Maybe?

[MercutioATC]

3. I still say our athletes should attend the opening ceremonies flying the Tibetan flag.

I really don't think either China or the IOC will kick out athletes if enough people do it.

[riverwalker]

7. exactly

If enough people do it.

[riverwalker]

5. my response

Print out the flag here:
http://www.tibet.com/flag.html



And mail it to them here:

INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE


Château de Vidy
1007 Lausanne
Switzerland

Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]

[mhoran]

10. Nice!

Will do!

[saigon68]

6. This whole thing is meaningless Bullshit

The kommunist dictatorship trying to show its cuddly warm side

Kind of like this

[Hardrada]

8. Hey that's the Brandenburg Gate!

We just finally visited that last summer. Nice not to have a Wall there. Neat poster too despite the ominous associations.

[saigon68]

14. Its all about propaganda

Kind of like who can swim the fastest

Whose dick is longest, widest etc.

Who can create the biggest splash

[Hardrada]

19. And if ya win something gold, you get to be on a Wheaties box!

Kind of like heavy commercialism too (which today's Chinese have doubtless also taken into account). Seems a fruitless exercise in some respects. I think Montreal is still paying off its Olympic costs.

[Hissyspit]

18. Yup.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

9. Simple: fly the flag after your last participation.

Better yet, at the podium, if you're a medal winner.

What now?

[1monster]

11. Back in the sixties... Mexico City Olympics, if I remember correctly. Two or three black athletes

raised their fists in a Black Power Salute.

They had their medals stripped from them and were thrown out of the games.

Stupidity on the part of the Olympic Committee is nothing new and it knows no bounds.

[othermeans]

16. Not entirely correct. They were dismissed from the games but they were allowed to keep their medals

The other sprinter an Australian named Norman wore a badge showing solitude with the other sprinters. He was banned forever from the Australian Olympic team. Brundages attitude at the time seems to mirror the his French counterpart of current time


"IOC president Avery Brundage deemed a domestic political statement unfit for the apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games was supposed to be. In an immediate response to their actions, he ordered Smith and Carlos suspended from the U.S. team and banned from the Olympic Village. When the US Olympic Committee refused, Avery threatened to ban the entire US track team. This threat led to the two athletes being expelled from the Games.

A spokesperson for the organization said it was "a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit."<2>"

[1monster]

20. Thanks for correction... It was a lot of years ago and memory is a funny thing.

I'm sure there were those who advocated for the atletes to have their medals stripped.

I'm glad they got to keep them.

They were brave men.

[DinahMoeHum]

26. Interesting and moving story of that Australian sprinter below. . .

http://www.edgeofsports.com/2006-10-09-202/index.html

Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral.

:patriot:

[Hand]

31. Great article! "...that citadel of propriety and hypocrisy: the Olympic games..."

Ain't that the truth--then and now. :grr:

[David__77]

12. I think the Olympics will go fairly smoothly.

This will run out of steam in a sense. It's doing little but provoking Chinese people who would otherwise be critical of their government to instead support it out of patriotism.

[EFerrari]

15. Who knew there were Chinese freepers!

:)

[struggle4progress]

13. Kinda like wearin th'wrong T-shirt at th'mall or a Bush event: ya goin flyin out

[Hissyspit]

17. Way to prove the protesters' point, IOC! Authoritarian suppression sucks.

Idiots.

[wpelb]

21. If the Chinese were smart (though they obviously aren't)

The Chinese government should simply ignore the protesters. It may be embarrassing for a while, but if there ends up being a Tienanmen Square-like incident during the Olympics, whether the protesters are Olympians, Tibetans, or anyone else, it will be much more difficult for Beijing to save face. If the communist (though I wonder if it's moved away from communist to more of a fascist orientation) government gets through the Games without some sort of embarrassing moments, it should consider itself very lucky. My guess is that it won't. My fear is that innocent people will be hurt or killed.

:(

[sudopod]

29. China is about as Communist as Wal-Mart. :p nt

[Boojatta]

34. Well, Walmart does sell a lot of stuff that was made in China, so you have a point.

[Occulus]

22. Let them ALL fly the Tibetan flag

and see what the IOC has to say about it.

[happyslug]

24. None of them will

A study was done (I believe in the 1980s) that asked Olympic level athletes if there was drug that could NOT be detected and if they used the drugs they would win a Medal, but die within five years, the vast majority would take the drug. That is how key the athletes are to WIN at the Olympics. Given that level of WANTING to be in the Olympics, I just do NOT see any athletes, that have a hope of winning any medals, of doing anything. That medal is more important then they own health, thus it is more important than anything political.

Now, some athletes may participate, but these are those Athletes whose desire was to be in the games (And that has been achieved) and have no hope of winning a medal, these athletes may do something, but they are the exceptions, most of the Athletes HOPE they can win a medal, thus will follow the rules. This is what happened in Mexico City in 1968 when the two African-Americans did the Black power salute. Unlike other Olympic Protesters, the two African-Americans won their medals, but only protested AFTER they have won those Medals. Other athletes have done similar protests over the years (Mostly Athletes who had no hope of winning, so everyone ignored them), but most follow the rules for they want to come back again, participate in other events which may blackball them for any political activities, or even participate in other contest in the same games (Most Athletes only do one "race" but some do more then one).

Given the above, and pressure from the Olympic committee will be sufficient to stop any protests, Don't anyone remember how much heat Carter took for boycotting the 1980 Moscow Olympics? That took a lot of courage and all Carter received was grief for it. The people who opposes the boycott, hated him for it, the people who supported the boycott did not think it was enough and earned Carter little if any support. Something had to be done about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but Carter was unwilling to send in troops. The boycott was the one of the few options he had and he took it. All the athletes howled about it and even today you hear people complain about it. I am sorry that is what is needed, but no one in power is proposing it (all that is being proposed is to boycott the opening ceremony, when the Athletes get to march along, big deal).

[Lorien]

32. I was thinking the same thing

would they just shut down the games then? Nah-they want the MONEY!

[Amonester]

23. Maybe this is gonna get the "dopes" issues fade away...

watta farce
but hey, a few millionaires will probably get richer than they already are...

[DinahMoeHum]

25. Hickory dickory dock, the IOC can suck their. . .

(well, you know)

:nopity::nopity::nopity:

[nwliberalkiwi]

27. Modern Olypics

If I remember the modern Olypics were started to train young men for war!!!

[damntexdem]

28. I hope athletes start saying what they want, and showing what they want, ...

starting on the medal stand. Dare the IOC to take the medals away -- and if that happens, the whole world will still know who really won the medals.

[Robb]

30. All it really takes is one, but as happyslug pointed out...

...these people have spent their entire lives preparing for the moment when they might win a medal. Very, very tough to expect them to jeopardize that in any way.

One athlete to hold her gold medal up on the podium, drop it to the ground, unfold a flag, and walk away.

I would never ask them to do it. I still hope they do.

[Codedonkey]

33. China is almost as bad as the US.

[otherlander]

35. It's not just Tibet

It's all of China
It's the sweatshops
It's the secret executions
It's the censorship of the internet
It's the murder of the Falun Gong
It's the dictatorship
It's everything.

People talk about China this, China that; I wonder what the average Chinese person would say about this? I wonder if a lot of them- though too scared to say it because of what the government might do to them- might not secretly be glad if the Olympics were boycotted, or failed miserably. Maybe they'd like to see it, a slap in the face of the government that's made life hell for them?