IOC president believes boycotting Beijing Winter Olympics would achieve nothing

IOC President Thomas Bach says a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing would achieve nothing

An athlete boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over China’s human rights abuses would not achieve anything, the president of the International Olympic Committee has said.

China has been criticised by human rights groups and activists, in particular its treatment of the Uighur Muslim population.

There have been calls for the IOC to use its global position to speak out against the abuse, and for athletes to boycott the Games.

However, IOC chief Thomas Bach says those considering a boycott should learn from history.

“We can only repeat and give advice to learn from history – a boycott of the Olympic Games has never achieved anything,” he said at the end of the IOC Session, held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Be mindful of the boycott in Moscow in 1980 because of the intervention of the Soviet army in Afghanistan. The Soviet army withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 – nine years after.

“So it really served nothing but punishing the athletes and then led to the counter-boycott in Los Angeles. It also has no logic, why would you punish the athletes from your own country if you have a dispute with athletes from another country?

This just makes no real sense. The athletes would be the ones who are suffering.

Bach also stated that one of the key principles of the Olympic Charter is political neutrality.