Two weeks ago, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials announced a ban on demonstrations during the Tokyo Olympics. The shocking outcome on the policy came after the IOC announced the ban on protesting was put in place after a “majority” of 3,500 athletes it polled were IN FAVOR of strict rules against demonstrations.
Officials have also just confirmed that athletes will NOT be allowed to wear “Black Lives Matter” apparel at Tokyo Olympics Games ceremonies this summer. “BLM” slogans will be allowed during interviews and team meetings but not during ceremonies, at the podium, or during competition.
IOC Athletes’ Commission chief Kirsty Coventry said:
“A very clear majority of athletes said that they think it’s not appropriate to demonstrate or express their views on the field of play, at the official ceremonies, or at the podium. So our recommendation is to preserve the podium, field of play, and official ceremonies from any kind of protest or demonstrations or acts perceived as such.”
This will be interesting because there is no stated policy for punishment for athletes competing in the Olympics. Will they follow through with the rule if it’s a famous athlete? Also, the head coach of the US National basketball team is radical woke leftist Greg Popovich! Popovich is the long time coach of the San Antonio Spurs and is a huge anti-Trumper who spoke to the media in 2017 about “white privilege”:
“If you read some of the recent literature, you’ll realize there really is no such thing as whiteness, but we kind of made that up. That’s not my original thought, but it’s true. Because you were born white, you have advantages that are systemically, culturally, psychologically there. And they have been built up and cemented for hundreds of years. But many people can’t look at it. It’s too difficult. It can’t be something that is on their plate on a daily basis. People want to hold their position, people want the status quo, people don’t want to give that up. And until it’s given up, it’s not going to be fixed.”
The Olympic committee might want to firm up the rules on protests because Greg Popovich might need to read them before he goes to Tokyo.
Press conference on April 21, 2021, announcing the decision on protests:
