The Olympic Games

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Unkraut

Master of the Inane Comment
Location
Germany
Am I the only one who isn't going to watch the winter Olympics because of the country staging it? I quite like winter sports, and each January there is a generous amount of it to watch on the telly here. I thought the competition in China would be worth watching and I intended to, but I cannot get out of my head what is going on in the country by way of human rights violations. A brilliant façade will be presented to the world, no expense spared and well organised no doubt, but this is in a country will precious little personal freedom.

I would like to keep sports and politics separate, but I am not sure this is possible in this case.
 

Milkfloat

Active Member
I too struggle a bit with that. Whilst I would love sport and politics to be separate, it never has been and never will be. Organisations like Fifa and the IOC know they can get away with it because people will watch and countries will bid. I don't blame the athletes for not boycotting, they have a short enough career as it is. At least most people watching and all the athletes know a little of what is going on and it may even embolden better people than me to shout about it more.
 

matticus

Guru
I don't blame the athletes for not boycotting, they have a short enough career as it is
This is the tricky part (for me). They will want to compete as hard as ever.

But if we all disregard these games - in our various limited ways - then their medals will always have an invisible asterisk next to them. I'm broadly against countries not sending athletes to dodgy games (or governments pressurising national sports bodies - that's unfair, you either leave them to it, or you have the balls to enforce restrictions.)

You need a sort of suspension of disbelief: support the actual events as they happen, and the athletes in those events - whilst booing the organisers.
 

BoldonLad

Old man on a bike. Not a member of a clique.
Location
South Tyneside
Am I the only one who isn't going to watch the winter Olympics because of the country staging it? I quite like winter sports, and each January there is a generous amount of it to watch on the telly here. I thought the competition in China would be worth watching and I intended to, but I cannot get out of my head what is going on in the country by way of human rights violations. A brilliant façade will be presented to the world, no expense spared and well organised no doubt, but this is in a country will precious little personal freedom.

I would like to keep sports and politics separate, but I am not sure this is possible in this case.

I will not be watching, but, due to lack of interest.
 

The Crofted Crest

Active Member
No. I was simply pointing out that it impossible to separate sport from politics when nations compete with other nations.

Saying that politics should be kept out of sport is a political statement.
 
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