Union, activists want charter postponed

GENEVA — A coalition of athletes, their global trade union, and human rights activists want the International Olympic Committee to postpone an athlete charter due to be adopted next week.

The Olympic body’s Athletes’ Rights and Responsibilities Declaration is set for approval at a meeting in Argentina to help safeguard athletes from issues including sexual and physical abuse, doping, and discrimination.

However, the World Players Association urged the IOC on Friday to delay the project, claiming it failed to properly consult athletes or experts and would “curtail fundamental athlete rights rather than protect them.”

“The IOC’s proposed declaration does not come close to respecting the internationally recognized human rights of athletes,” the union’s executive director, Brendan Schwab, said in a statement.

The union, representing 85,000 athletes in more than 60 countries, was joined by athlete groups in the United States, Britain, Canada and Germany in asking the IOC to shelve the proposal.

BOXING: The IOC has reiterated its threat to drop boxing from the Olympics, expressing “extreme concern” with how the sport is run after a businessman from Uzbekistan who has been accused by U.S. authorities of having ties to organized crime was announced to be running unopposed for president of the amateur boxing association.