Word: ioc
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Beijing appeared to back down in the face of international pressure Friday, removing a wide range of filters blocking access to websites beyond China's so-called Great Firewall. The move followed negotiations with the International Olympic Committee, sought by the IOC after numerous complaints from reporters arriving in Beijing to cover the Games that open August 8. Even at the main Olympic press center, access to the Web had been heavily restricted...
...training disadvantages and a lack of funding. She saw an overarching hope for helping to heal some of Iraq's bitter sectarian divides with this Olympics. "Sports can unify the Iraqi people - no Sunnis, no Shi'ites, just sport for the country," she says. But after learning the IOC's decision, Hussein was devastated. "With this horrible situation, who is to say I'll even be alive in 2012," she told CNN through tears, as her coach reminded her about the possibility of competing in the next Olympics...
...Iraqi team might still have a shot. IOC spokesperson Giselle Davies told CNN the Iraqi government would have one last chance, but only for about a week. "If there can be some movement and if a resolution can be found, that's still an open door," she said. The spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, Tahsin al-Sheikhli, in the meantime, said Iraqi sports unions would be filing a formal complaint against the IOC for its decision. "This was the only time that Iraqis would get to gather and bring the name of Iraq to a real international competition," says...
...IOC, deeming this as political interference in sporting matters, gave the Iraqi government a deadline in which to reinstate the old committee. Baghdad refused to back down, and now the seven Iraqis who had qualified for the Games - two rowers, an archer, a discus thrower, a sprinter, a weightlifter and a judoka - have been told to unpack their bags...
They're not the only ones suffering the consequences of political wrangling, though. The ban amounts to collective punishment for all Iraqis. The IOC's protestations that it had no choice but to impose its rules are plainly disingenuous. For one thing, Iraq is hardly the only country where politicians meddle with sport. The Games are, after all, being held in China! For another, if the IOC was perfectly happy to let Iraq participate in previous Games when Uday was running Iraq sports. Perhaps locking a football player in an iron maiden doesn't qualify under the IOC's definition...