Lonan3 Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 TIMES ARTICLE Can sport ever really be separated from politics? Judging from yesterday's events, it would appear not. The Olympics have often sparked protests that were of a political nature - the boycotting of games in USSR and USA, the terrorists at the Munich Olympics, the 'Black Power' gesture at the 1968 Mexico Olympics etc. Is it a legitimate form of protest? Or should everyone ignore the possibility of getting their protest onto the world's TV screens in the interest of sport? More relevantly, will protest such as that seen in London do anything to convince China to honour the plege it made as part of its acceptance of the games to adhere to the 'Olympic Spirit' and introduce human rights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinahand Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 There's already a good discussion of this on going here - as the international section is less well travelled I'd redirect this into the already existing thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 Gordon Broon is trying to separate sport and politics as much as possible at the moment because of the 2012 olympics. The 20th century has seen the olympics 'dogged' by politics, and the 21st century (fast becoming the century of lobbyists, protesters and religion) is starting to pan out the same: 1936: Dominated by Hitler's propaganda 1956: Boycotted because of the invasion of Egypt by Israel, Soviet invasion of Hungary 1968: Black power salutes 1972: Kidnap and murder of Israeli athletes 1976: 26 African countries boycotted because of New Zealand rugby touring S.A. 1980: 62 countries boycotted because of Russian invasion of Afghanistan 1984: In retaliation for 1980, Russia and about 14 other countries boycotted U.S. games Imagine the chaos if the 2004 olympics had they been in London and the UK was still stomping all over Iraq and Afghanistan? I suspect even a few European countries may have been arguing for UK boycotts if that had been the case, along with numerous demonstrations from up to a million anti-war protesters in the UK. Personally, I think the olympics should be held in a neutral country such as Switzerland each year (somewhere that can cover both the summer and winter olympics) - because the answer to the question 'can you keep sport out of the olympics?' is 'no chance'. Having it in Switzerland and making sure athletes signed up to keeping sport out of politics - on pain of a ban - would be the only potential solution IMO - but even that probably wouldn't work 100% of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbms Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 There's already a good discussion of this on going here - as the international section is less well travelled I'd redirect this into the already existing thread. This again an example the totalitarian dictatorship suppressing the will of the peasants of the social revolution. The west is again trying to destroy our free democratic right to say what our central comittee order us to say. Long live the revolution, bollocks to the French. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 http://www.manxforums.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23945 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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