Athletes demand free speech clarity

EUROPEAN athletes and officials demanded clearer guidelines yesterday on how free they will be to express opinions on human rights, Tibet and other issues at the Beijing Olympics.

“Athletes want to know what is allowed and what is not allowed,” Claudia Bokel, a spokeswoman for the European Athletes Commission, said at a meeting of leaders of the Association of National Olympic Committees in Beijing.

The body, which represents the world’s 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), is meeting for three days and spent much of its first day addressing free speech.

The International Olympic Committee has said all 10,500 competitors attending the August 8 to 24 Games will be free to speak out as long as they respect the Olympic Charter.

Under the charter, athletes are barred from using venues to promote racial, political or religious propaganda.

But the head of an association that groups 49 European NOCs said he had asked for clarification from International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.

Patrick Hickey, the Irish head of the association of European NOCs, said Rogge would make a statement on Thursday morning about the matter.

He said athletes in several European countries were being “hounded” by the media and other organisations to take a stand on political issues related to Beijing.

“We want to take the pressure off them,” he said. “We want to give them peace of mind and some guidance.”