Why is boycott the most ominous specter in the Olympic movement?
China News Service, Beijing, May 12 Title: Boycott, why is it the most ominous ghost in the Olympic movement?
China News Service reporter Xing Chong
Yi Jiandong. I provide the picture
Modern sports is an important carrier for the rise and development of the Olympic movement. In the spirit of the Olympic Charter, the Olympic Games should not be politicized. There is a consensus in the international sports community that boycott is called "the most ominous specter of the Olympic movement" and will eventually be despised and spurned. However, looking back at the century-old modern Olympic history, from time to time a small number of politicians will act in the name of resistance.
What do you think of the "noise" of the boycott of the Olympic Games? What is the deeper reason behind this? Yi Jiandong, a well-known Olympic research expert, a doctoral supervisor of the humanities and sociology of sports at Beijing Sport University, and a professor at Wenzhou University, was interviewed exclusively by China News Agency's "East and West Question" to make an in-depth interpretation.
An excerpt from the interview is as follows:
China News Service: In history, there have been boycotts involving racial discrimination, war, revenge and other reasons, are they in line with the original intention of the Olympic Movement? Can the so-called "boycott purpose" be achieved?
Yi Jiandong: Since its birth, the modern Olympic movement has been flowing with the gene of pursuing peace. The Olympic Charter has repeatedly emphasized the building of a peaceful and better world, and it can be said that the Olympic Movement has a desire for peace.
Data chart: On December 1, 2020 local time, the Olympic ring signs that were being transported by ship returned to Tokyo Bay after 4 months of safety inspections and repairs.
The so-called boycott behavior, also known as the "boycott behavior" (from the English translation boycott). Historically, when there is room for game in global politics, the Olympics may be exploited. During the Cold War, for example, there were hardly any quiet Olympics.
Historical resistance to the Olympics has taken on three characteristics. First, it is precisely because the Olympic Games are so influential that the countries concerned regard them as an important platform for appeal and boycott; second, boycotts that harm the Olympic Games, their own athletes, the host countries and the global sports community; third, resisting in order to achieve non-sports purposes, but often failing to achieve them in the end, but playing a side effect.
In the case of the 1972 Olympics in Munich, the Palestinian "Black September" terrorist organization broke into the Olympic Village, eventually resulting in the brutal killing of 11 Israeli athletes. Israeli intelligence groups have waged a decades-long retaliatory pursuit. Due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, many countries boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, and in 1984, the Soviet Union joined forces with Eastern European countries to collectively boycott the Los Angeles Olympic Games that year. This all shows that boycotts and retaliation not only fail to achieve their goals, but also provoke new hatred.
Data chart: On July 23, 2020 local time, the first anniversary of the countdown to the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Tokyo Skytree lit up the Olympic rings.
The boycott of the Olympic Games during the Cold War period has made the international sports community and the international community deeply aware of the shameful "boycott behavior" and the unpopular resistance. For a country that embraces and respects the Olympic Movement, it should not boycott the Olympic Games under any circumstances, and the whole world should abandon such behavior. Whoever resists will be despised by the international community, which is a firm consensus that cannot be broken in the field of the international Olympics.
China News Service: In what ways are the injuries caused by the boycott, who bears them, and whether the harm can be repaired?
Yi Jiandong: Boycotting the Olympic Games is the greatest damage to the Olympic principle of peace and the nature of the party, and greatly hurts the feelings of the people who love the Olympic Movement around the world, and the athletes bear the most direct and concrete damage.
Due to the low frequency of performances and rewards for athletes, the relatively short career, and the occasional and intense nature of sports events, participation and performance opportunities are scarce resources, and the most direct and specific harm to boycotting the Olympic Games is caused to athletes and is difficult to make up.
Data chart: On September 17, 2020, the release of the mascot and the mascot of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games was held in Beijing. The picture shows IOC President Bach interacting with the young actors at the launch event. Photo by China News Service reporter Tomita
IOC President Bach competed as a fencer at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, which most African countries boycotted because of competitions between the New Zealand Rowing Federation and white South African athletes. Bach, who has personal experience in this matter, has repeatedly called for the fact that a boycott is not beneficial, it can only cause harm to all parties, and ultimately unpopular.
Recently, a small number of American politicians have tried to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics in the name of human rights. Anita De Franz, an IOC member from the United States, first published an article, believing that the remarks of American politicians were "noise" that "used the Olympic Games as a political tool" and that "the world gained nothing from the boycott." De Franz, a rower who failed to participate in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow due to U.S. boycott, said that "international politics ruined this opportunity" and "was shocked and confused at the time, never imagined that such a thing would happen, and did not understand how her participation would affect the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan." ”
Sarah Hershland, the chief executive of the U.S. Olympic Committee, said it was clear that the decision not to send a delegation to Moscow had no impact on the global political situation at the time, but only caused harm to the athletes. U.S. Olympic Committee President Susan Lyons similarly said that boycotts have never worked, and that it hurts only athletes.
Data chart: On September 13, 2017, local time, in Paris, France, the Olympic five-ring symbol was erected in front of the Eiffel Tower.
China News Service: As the general statute of the international Olympic movement, what are the institutional arrangements for avoiding the influence of politicization? What role do you think the IOC can play on the issue of so-called boycotts?
Yi Jiandong: The Olympic Charter is the fundamental law that the international Olympic movement should follow, and it has a binding effect on stakeholders. The Charter clearly sets out the seven basic principles of the Olympic Movement, the fourth of which clearly states that "sport is a fundamental human right and that everyone must practise sport in the Olympic spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair competition under mutual understanding, without any possibility of discrimination." This shows that the Olympic movement should eliminate differences in religion, gender, race, ideology, etc., and meet together under the flag of the five rings.
At present, there is a lot of discussion in the international community about article 50 of the Olympic Charter. Article 50 stipulates: "No form of demonstration or political, religious or ethnic propaganda shall be carried out in any Olympic venue, venue or other area. ”
Data chart: At the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympic Games, the five Olympic rings echoed with brilliant fireworks.
But in fact, there have been protests on the Olympic games. For example, black American athletes at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City raised black fists on the podium to protest racial discrimination. Last year's violent deaths of black American police officers sparked solidarity with major U.S. sports leagues calling for changes to Section 50 of the Charter. However, at present, this principle is not easy to change, and about two-thirds of the members of the international sports community involved in the discussion, including athletes and coaches from various countries, have always believed that they cannot protest on the occasion of the Olympic Games. This shows that opposing any form of discrimination is the constant position of the IOC and the international sports community.
Although the IOC is sometimes forced to get involved in political strife, the IOC, through its value function, can deter resistance. The ancient Olympic Games had the Holy Truce Treaty, during which anyone who entered Olympia with a weapon was considered a traitor to God and should be punished. On 25 October 1993, the United Nations held the 36th plenary session of the 48th session of the General Assembly, and the delegates unanimously adopted the "Olympic Truce" proposal initiated by the International Olympic Committee and signed by all the member states of the Olympic Movement, that is, during the Olympic Games and one week before and after the Olympic Games, like the ancient Greeks, the member states laid down their arms and stopped the war.
Data chart: The opening ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games showed the long history of the birthplace of the Olympic Games with a solemn performance, allowing people to relive the sacredness and glory of the ancient Olympic Games.
As the largest international event, the Olympic Games have a strong appeal and full pan-unity function. In the 1950s, South African authorities banned competition between ethnic groups and regulated sports separately. At the urging of the South African Non-Ethnic Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee decided in 1963 to ban South Africa from participating in the Olympic Games from 18 August 1964, resulting in the suspension of all south African government external sports links in the 1960s. To some extent, the IOC contributed to the de-apartheid of South Africa, which is where Mandela said that "sport has the power to change the world".
A small number of US politicians have attempted to boycott the Winter Olympics with the so-called "human rights issues", which has nothing to do with the Olympic Charter and is contrary to the Olympic spirit. Not to mention that the United States' own human rights problems are prominent, the International Olympic Committee has always emphasized non-discrimination and respect for friendship, playing this kind of card will not have any effect, and people who play cards can only hit their own faces in the end.
Data chart: On April 7, 2008, local time, the Beijing Olympic flame was disturbed during the transmission abroad, and The Chinese Paralympic fencing athlete Jin Jing sat in a wheelchair to protect the extinguished Olympic torch.
China News Service: As the Beijing Winter Olympics approach, what kind of mentality should we hold toward some of the "noise" that may occur? How can the Olympic spirit really shine as it should? Where should global sports governance under the impact of the epidemic go?
Yi Jiandong: Before the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the United States and Europe used the so-called "Tibet issue" to boycott and repeatedly made difficulties in the torch relay, but in the end only Brunei was disqualified because it did not register as an athlete, and the other 204 registered members (countries and regions) all participated in the Beijing Olympic Games, which was the largest number of participating countries. A number of leaders of major countries attended the opening ceremony, and the Beijing Olympic Games were successfully held, which was praised as "unparalleled". The boycott of the failure of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games shows that the boycott is unpopular and ultimately attracts widespread disgust in the international sports community.
At present, in the context of the epidemic has not been completely eliminated, the hosting of the Olympic Games may face a series of challenges. For example, there is a possibility that some delegations will not be able to participate, the size of the delegation and the number of athletes will be reduced accordingly, resulting in the impact of some project configurations, and the absence of technical officials of international individual sports organizations may lead to a decline in the professionalism of the event organization.
Data chart: The National Stadium, the venue for the ice hockey competition of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, completed its first ice-making work on January 28, and the venues currently have the conditions for competition testing. The picture shows the National Stadium, which has completed ice making. Photo by China News Service reporter Tomita
As far as the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics is concerned, China is seeking the trust and support of all stakeholders through meticulous communication and services, including full communication with the International Olympic Committee, maintaining close contact with international individual organizations, communicating with loyal members of the international Olympic family, national or regional Olympic Committees, communicating with all parties including broadcasters, sponsors, media, etc., and maintaining regular contact with athletes.
In short, both the IOC and the host need to look at the resistance noise with a calm and objective attitude. The Olympic Games is a highly influential international public cultural platform, and some of the contradictions and conflicts in the current international pattern need to be resolved through official diplomacy, people-to-people diplomacy and other diversified means, rather than resorting to resistance.
In the future, the IOC should continue to exalt the Olympic spirit and humanistic values, handle the relationship between sports and politics more detachedly, actively accept the participation of the vast number of emerging countries in the decision-making of the Olympic Movement, strengthen the coordination of sports interests at the grassroots level of the people, and establish a prestige that meets public expectations, especially the popularity of young people. (End)
Yi Jiandong is a well-known Olympic research scholar in China, an expert of special allowances of the State Council, and a review expert of the Sports Discipline Review Group of the National Social Science Foundation of China. Professor of School of Physical Education and Health of Wenzhou University, Doctoral Supervisor of Humanities and Sociology of Sports of Beijing Sport University, Postdoctoral Supervisor of Public Economics and Management of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics. He was the vice president of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics and the deputy director of the General Planning and Legal Affairs Department of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Bidding Committee.
Source: China News Network