Athletes want ban to remain
Athlete protests and political messages will remain banned at the Olympics, the IOC said yesterday, after a survey found that a majority of competitors were in favour of keeping the ban in place.
That means raising a fist on the podium – as American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos famously did at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics – or taking a knee would still risk punishment at the Tokyo Games this year.
The IOC said it surveyed more than 3500 athletes over the past year and that 70 per cent said it was ‘‘not appropriate to demonstrate or express their views’’ on the field of play or at the opening or closing ceremony.
The survey also showed 67 per cent of respondents disapproved of podium demonstrations.
The IOC has not said what consequences athletes may face for protesting, but a ‘‘proportionate’’ range of punishments will be drafted before the games, said Kirsty Coventry, who represents athletes on the IOC executive board.
Smith and Carlos were both expelled from the 1968 Olympics after their salute.
Upholding rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, which prohibits any ‘‘demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda’’ at the games, puts the IOC at odds with Olympic officials in the United States.
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in December it will not take action if athletes raise their fists or kneel during the national anthem at their event trials before Tokyo.
While the USOPC guidelines allow athletes to wear apparel showing phrases such as ‘‘Black Lives Matter,’’ the language is more limited in the IOC guidance published yesterday.
Approved words on T-shirts and elsewhere in Tokyo are ‘‘peace, respect, solidarity, inclusion and equality,’’ the IOC said.