Beijing Winter Olympics
\nIOC senior member Dick Pound told German radio that China would allow athletes to speak freely during news conferences. He said politics does not factor into decision-making on events.
\n Beijing
\nSenior International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound on Monday said there was \u201cnothing wrong with China\u201d from a sporting perspective after a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Games by leading Western countries.
\nThe United States, Canada, the UK and Australia have banned their officials from attending the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights violations. China has called the move \u201cpolitical posturing\u201d with the event set to get underway on February 4.
\nPolitics not part of IOC decision
\nPound told Germany radio station Deutschlandfunk that politics does not come into any decision concerning the award of Olympics events to a country.
\n\u201cIn the sense of having a host country that could organize and put on an excellent Games from a Games perspective, there\u2019s absolutely nothing wrong with China,\u201d Pound said.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a very good and very organized country,\u201d he added.
\nPound explained that the awarding of the Winter Olympic Games was done \u201con the the basis of the importance of the country as a sporting nation and its ability to organize Games at the level that the world now expects.\u201d
\nHe added that the decision to choose Beijing was not made \u201cas an indication that we support the political objectives of that country.\u201d
\nChina to ensure freedom of speech
\nPound said that China\u2019s Olympic Organizing Committee would allow athletes to speak their mind at press conferences on issues like the Uyghur Muslim minority camps.
\nUS President Joe Biden has accused China of genocide and human rights groups want all diplomats to pull out of the event.
\n\u201cThe organizing committee has given that guarantee that there will be freedom of speech for athletes,\u201d said Pound.
\nAccording to IOC rules, competitors cannot make protests during sporting events or medal ceremonies.
\nChina has denied human rights violations in the Xianjang province, branding the diplomatic boycott \u201cpolitical manipulation.\u201d
\nEuropean countries like Germany and France have held back from pulling officials out of the event, instead preferring to use the occasion to pursue dialogue with China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beijing Winter Olympics IOC senior member Dick Pound told German radio that China would allow athletes to speak freely during news conferences. He said politics does not factor into decision-making on events. Beijing Senior International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound on Monday said there was \u201cnothing wrong with China\u201d from a sporting perspective after a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[18,1312,1691,1692],"class_list":{"0":"post-232958","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-china","9":"tag-host","10":"tag-ioc","11":"tag-wrong"},"yoast_head":"\n