UPDATED: Don't Boycott: Ban Russia From Their Own Winter Olympics

[Fearless]

Over the last two weeks there has been a lot of debate about taking Olympic action against Russia for the country's anti-gay laws. Some say athletes should march into the Opening Ceremony holding rainbow flags, but that would likely result in disqualifications for said athletes, based on the Olympic Charter (rule 50, if you're looking). Others are putting together letters of petition asking the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to take a stand against the Russian laws, but a simple public statement by the IOC would get folded up and used as a coaster in the Kremlin. Many have called for a boycott of the Olympics by countries like the U.S., but boycotts don't directly hit the Russians. Asking the United States and other nations to boycott the Olympics simply punishes 19-year-old athletes, not Vladamir Putin. Buying Ketel One instead of Stolichnaya might take a swipe at a business owner in Moscow or a factory worker in St. Petersburg, but it's just a pesky mosquito to the Russian government. And caviar? Who eats it anyway?

To make a real statement, to send a message to the Russians that these laws cannot stand, the IOC has to go a step further. Instead of the rest of the world refusing to go to Sochi, there's one step that the IOC can take that will land a wake-up slap on the face of the Kremlin: Ban Russia from competing in their own Winter Olympic Games.

Why debate the exclusion of American, Canadian, British and other athletes when it's Russia that's in violation here? The new Russian law is in clear and direct conflict with the Olympic Charter, creating a system of discrimination that forces LGBT athletes into a life of fear and isolation. "The practice of sport is a human right," the charter reads. "Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play." That's not just an isolated sentence in the midst of dozens of charter pages; it's right up front, in the section called "Fundamental Principles of Olympism." That's "fundamental" as in "essential to the existence of the Olympics." And the Russian law doesn't just violate one word or one clause of the Olympic Charter; it violates the entire statement. The law doesn't just punish Russian athletes; it subjects competitors from every nation to discrimination and flies in the face of the Olympic spirit.

While an Olympic ban for Russia may sound like a mountain to climb, it's been done before, and for similar reasons. In 1964 the IOC banned South Africa from Olympic competition because of the nation's apartheid policies. Despite the South Africans claiming that they would add black athletes to their Olympic team that year, the IOC demanded that the South African government publicly renounce all racial discrimination in sport. The white-majority government of South Africa refused, and they were banned from Olympic participation until 1992. Similarly, Rhodesia was banned from the Olympics just four days before the 1972 Munich Games began, because of anti-black racist policies in the nation. That nation, which collapsed in 1979, never competed in an Olympic Games. Afghanistan was banned from the 2000 Summer Games because of human-rights violations against women under the Taliban; they were readmitted four years later upon the inclusion of female Olympians. Germany was banned from several Games for their involvement in World War I and World War II. And most recently, India was banned from the Olympics late last year after the IOC rejected the outcome of Indian Olympic Association elections. When India held new elections this spring with a different outcome, the IOC lifted the ban. If political elections are enough to get a nation banned from Olympic competition, a ban for the criminalization of an entire class of people should be a no-brainer.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cyd-zeigler/dont-boycott-ban-russia-from-their-own-winter-olympics_b_3720026.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices


EDIT TO ADD: The link to the petition: http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/international-olympic-committee-ioc-relocate-the-2014-winter-games-to-vancouver-2

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Best idea I've heard so far!

[MNBrewer]

1. I'm for ending the Olympics altogether, but...