Geneva: Olympic Chief Thomas Bach begged Wednesday for politics to be kept out of the game, said they would be who divided as other regions in the community.
The Olympic movement needs to be maintained neutral and cannot be expected to resolve the issue of civil liberties that politics fails to fix it, said Bach in a video message to the UN Human Rights Council.
“The Olympic match is the only event that unites the whole world in peace competition,” said the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
“Everyone respects the same rules, stands together in solidarity.
The universality and inclusivity that defines the Olympics requires us at IOC to politically neutral.” China, which will host the 2022 winter Olympics in Beijing next February, faces careful calls and boycott of some rights issues including internment of the mass and other repression of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and Clampdown on freedom in Hong Kong.
Beijing has organized the 2008 Summer Olympics.
“We do not have the mandate or ability to change the laws of sovereign states.
We cannot solve human rights issues that cannot be solved by generation of politicians,” Bach said.
But, he said, the Olympic Charter guarantees the same rights for everyone during the match, such as non-discrimination, press freedom and respect for labor rights standards.
“In order for our actions to peace and human rights to become successful, we need respect from politics for our mission,” said Bach Wednesday.
“If this is not respected, the Olympics will be a split like so many other fields of society today.
The Olympic match will lose their unifying strength and it is impossible for us to unite the world in peaceful competition.” Olympics Tokyo 2020, was postponed from last year due to the crisis Covid-19, open on July 23.
IOC released a new guideline on Friday softened a long ban on political protests in the match.
Athletes in Tokyo will be allowed to “express their views” before and after competing – but not on the podium.
The average competitor changes will be allowed to take the knee before the event began to highlight racial injustice, talk to the media and post online about their views, or wear clothes with a slogan protest at a press conference.
But protests cannot target people, countries or organizations, or dignity, said IOC.
Meanwhile the Chief Executive of Tosyo 2020 Toshiro Muto tried to ensure that the Olympics would be staged safely despite the Coronavirus crisis.
“Covid-19 pandemic is not over,” he told the Human Rights Council.
“We will do our best to ensure the Tokyo 2020 game that is safe and safe for athletes and everyone by taking full and comprehensive turning steps.”