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Diabierna 14 Mei 2021

USOPC to Congress: Beijing Olympic boycott not the solution

four years later. More than led to calls for more oversight
450 U.S. athletes who had and reform.
qualified for Moscow never
had a chance to compete in In her letter, Hirshland ar-
the Olympics. gued that the Olympics can
be used to raise awareness of
"To make matters worse, human rights issues. But she
their sacrifice had argu- did not highlight the 1968
ably no diplomatic benefit," Olympics, which were punc-
Hirshland said. "The Soviet tuated by protests by sprint-
Union stayed in Afghanistan ers Tommie Smith and John
for another decade. ... Both Carlos, the likes of which the
the 1980 and 1984 Games USOPC has said it would
tainted Olympic history and not punish going forward.
showed the error of using the Instead, Hirshland refer-
Olympic Games as a political enced Russia's passage of an-
tool." ti-LGBTQ legislation before
the Sochi Games in 2014.
Activists, along with some
members of Congress, have "The Olympic and Paralym-
been pushing for a boycott, pic community shone a light
or to relocate the games. Last on inequality in practice, and
month, the Biden Adminis- the Sochi Games became a
tration got mixed up in artic- turning point in the effort to
ulating its own policy about highlight the contributions
(AP) — A boycott of next that Olympic boycotts harm dermine the core values of a possible boycott; the U.S. and inclusion of LGBTQ+
year's Beijing Olympics athletes and do little to im- the Olympic movement ... an State Department suggested athletes in global sport," she
will not solve any geopo- pact problems in host coun- athlete boycott of the Olym- an Olympic boycott was pos- wrote.
litical issues with China tries. pic and Paralympic Games is sible, but a senior official
and will only serve to not the solution to geopoliti- later had to clarify by saying She said the new generation
place athletes training for Her letter specifically ad- cal issues." keeping the U.S. team home of Winter Olympians were
the games under a "cloud dressed those who believe a had not been discussed. working hard to represent
of uncertainty," the head boycott of the Winter Games Hirshland offered a his- the U.S. next year in Beijing.
of the U.S. Olympic and next February would serve as tory lesson about the U.S.- The choice of whether to
Paralympic Commit- an effective diplomatic tool to led boycott of the Moscow boycott would ultimately be "Please give them that
tee wrote to Congress on protest China's alleged abus- Games in 1980 in protest of up to the USOPC, but po- chance," she said. "They do
Thursday. es toward Uyghurs, Tibetans the Soviet Union's occupa- litical pressure could weigh not deserve to train for the
and Hong Kong residents. tion of Afghanistan. That heavily, especially with Con- games under a cloud of un-
CEO Sarah Hirshland sent prompted the Soviet Union gress becoming more in- certainty about American
the two-page letter that put a She said that while the and several Eastern bloc volved in the U.S. Olympic participation in the games."
more official imprint on the USOPC is also troubled by countries to respond in kind team's operations in the wake
long-held USOPC stance actions in China that "un- at the Los Angeles Games of a sex-abuse scandal that

Man United fans protest again outside Old Trafford

remember we are still living said Chris Sykes, assistant has pledged to engage more
under restrictions due to the chief constable of Greater with fans going forward but
pandemic and have a collec- Manchester Police. has only written an open let-
tive responsibility to remain ter so far.
safe and protect one another," United co-owner Joel Glazer

(AP) — Hundreds of Man- Like then, there were fans
chester United fans pro- setting off flares while chant-
tested against the owner- ing demanding the owning
ship outside Old Trafford Glazer family sell the club
on Thursday but did not after being part of the failed
disrupt the match against attempt to launch a European
Liverpool, which was Super League last month.
postponed two weeks ago
due to unrest. Two arrests were made for
public order offenses, but
There was a stronger policing police did not interfere with
presence outside the stadium the protests even though
on Thursday after some fans large crowds are prevented by
managed to get inside and coronavirus restrictions.
stormed the pitch on May 2.
"We encourage everyone to