SWITZERLAND: OLYMPICS - The International Olympic Committee rejects a Tibetan request to field a team for next year's Beijing Olympics

Record ID: 731315

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: OLYMPICS - The International Olympic Committee rejects a Tibetan request to field a team for next year's Beijing Olympics
  • Date: 11th December 2007
  • Summary: (SU) LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND (DECEMBER 10, 2007) (REUTERS) PAN FROM THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) HEADQUARTERS IN LAUSANNE VARIOUS OF TEAM TIBET SUPPORTERS IN FRONT OF THE IOC HEADQUARTERS ZOOM OUT FROM THE OLYMPIC SIGN TO A TIBET FLAG HELD BY A TEAM TIBET SUPPORTER DEMONSTRATING TWO TIBETAN ATHLETES, 100 METERS SPRINTER JIGME PUENKANG (LEFT) AND TABLE TENNIS PLAYER DOMINIC KELSANG ERNE, WITH WANGPO TETHONG, THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (NOC) OF TIBET, STANDING IN FRONT OF A GIANT "WALL OF SILENCE" BANNER, SYMBOLISING THE IOC'S FAILURE TO RESPOND TO THEIR APPLICATION FOR THE OFFICIAL RECOGNITION BY THE IOC OF THE TIBETAN NOC
  • Embargoed: 26th December 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA72Y16RN4Q31ATSEZVUJO4ZR99
  • Story Text: The International Olympic Committee rejects a Tibetan request to field a team for next year's Beijing Olympics, as some 100 Tibetans and supporters demonstrate outside the IOC headquarters.
    Close to a hundred Tibetan supporters of Team Tibet demonstrated on Monday (December 10) for the recognition by the IOC of their National Olympic Committee, which was denied by the IOC.
    The supporters of "Team Tibet" peacefully demonstrated in front of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), holding a giant "Wall of Silence" banner, a symbol of the IOC's failure to formally respond to their previous applications.

    "It's very simple, we are Tibetans, we are part of the world, we want to join the IOC in 2008 in Beijing with the youth of the world, and compete peacefully you see, in a spirit of fun and reconciliation, and as you know, Tibet is in a very difficult situation, there's a lot of human rights violations by the Chinese government there, but still we feel that if we were able, if we were given a chance to be there, we could do a lot of positive things and enjoy the Olympic spirit also," Wangpo Tethong, the president of the Tibetan National Olympic Committee told Reuters Television.
    The IOC rejected their formal application, implying Tibet will not be able to field their own team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

    "We're always open to listening, that's why we were holding the meeting today here at the IOC headquarters, but we do have rules in place, they're there so that everyone is treated according to the same systematic procedures. And unless you're a recognised state, you cannot be recognised as a National Olympic Committee and that ensures a degree of fairness across the global community," the IOC's head of communications Giselle Davis said.
    The demonstration was held on the day a three-day Executive board meeting started.
    The president of Team Tibet, Wangpo Tethong was explained by Michel Filliau, an IOC representative, that Olympic committees from regions not recognised as sovereign states could not take part in Olympic games.
    Demonstrators braved pouring rain, shouting slogans including "Free Tibet" and "Justice for Tibet" as a delegation of three, including Tethong and two athletes, were briefly allowed to meet IOC officials for the first time since applying in August to join.

    "So we tried to change the circumstances, we tried to change the rules, it's a big, big project, maybe it's not feasible within the next month, but we will go on certainly, and maybe in four years in London we will see each other again," Wanpo Tethong said after the meeting.
    The IOC has been under mounting pressure as criticism over China's human rights record grows some nine months before the Games.
    Tibet has been ruled by China with an iron fist since 1950, when Chinese troops invaded.
    The Tibetan team currently comprises some 30 athletes, all exiled.
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