By Jim Byers
Toronto Star, August 02, 2008
http://olympics.thestar.com/2008/article/471686
BEIJING–Ahletes should not use the coming Summer Olympic Games as a propaganda tool, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge says.
Speaking at a Saturday press conference, Rogge said athletes are entitled to their opinions but that the Games are a place for neutral sport.
"Athletes will have full rights to express themselves as they wish," Rogge said when asked about athletes perhaps wearing "Free Tibet" badges or other political buttons during next Friday's opening ceremonies. "We are simply asking them not to get into propaganda exercises."
There will be men and women from a record 205 national Olympic committees at the athletes village, and many come from countries involved in military, political, religious or commercial conflicts.
"If we allow (demonstrations) in the village or the stadium ... that's the end of all harmony," he said.
Rogge said he's convinced that athletes will show "decent common sense" and refrain from such activities.
Speaking at the end of a day-long meeting of the IOC's executive board, Rogge faced renewed questions about China's Internet policy. A high-ranking IOC official earlier this week said his group had reached an earlier deal to allow Beijing officials to censor web sites at the China Games.
Rogge vehemently denied that was the case.
"I'm adamant there was no deal whatsoever to accept restrictions."
Rogge didn't directly answer a question as to whether the IOC ever expected completely free access to all web sites for journalists covering the Games. But he said the IOC expects the "fullest access possible."
After journalists complained earlier this week that sites such as Amnesty International and even the BBC's China site were blocked from viewing from Olympic venues, many of the sites became available. Some, however, were still blocked today, including sites linked to the Falun Gong movement and even newspaper blogs on subjects such as automobiles and basketball.
Beijing organizers had pledged to give reporters unfettered access to the web, but this week said access was blocked to sites that "propagated information" banned under Chinese law.
Rogge said he wasn't in a position to apologize for the confusion.
"I'm not going to apologize for something the IOC is not responsible for," he said. "We are not running the Internet in China."
"The IOC asked for the fullest access and this is what the Beijing organizing committee said it would deliver," Rogge said, adding that the degree of Internet access being given to journalists at the Olympics is "unprecedented for this country."
On July 17, Rogge said there would be no censorship at the Games. But an IOC official today suggested he meant reporters could file their stories freely, without interference from the Chinese government.
The IOC president said the executive board normally needs a couple of days to finish its business but that things are going so well in China that their meetings wrapped up early.
"These will be wonderful Games," he told reporters. "I have absolutely no concern for the organization. Absolutely, I have no regrets" about the IOC giving the Games to China.
Beijing defeated Toronto and several other cities for the right to stage the 2008 Summer Games, which start Aug. 8.
"On the ninth, magical Games and a flawless organization will take over," Rogge said.