Olympic Committee Bans Black Lives Matter Apparel and Could Punish Protesting Athletes
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The postponed 2020 Summer Olympics are just 80 days away from taking place in Tokyo against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. It will be an Olympics unlike any other — with no international fans.Athletes will have to pass a battery of nasal COVID-19 tests and are just one positive result away from ruining years of hard work and training.
Millions of eyes will be on the Games all over the world. It’s a tremendous stage — both for athletic triumph and possibly social change. Who can forget this image of Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos with fists raised during the 1968 Olympic Games to protest racism.
The International Olympic Committee got very granular with what is not allowed. It said specifically that the slogan “Black Lives Matter” will be banned from athlete apparel at the Summer Olympics.
It’s part of the IOC’s long-standing ban on “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda” on the playing field, the medal stand or during the Games’ official ceremonies.
More generic words like “peace,” “respect,” “solidarity,” “inclusion” and “equality” will be allowed on T-shirts.
So far, the IOC has not said what types of punishment athletes could face for violating these rules. It only said it would treat each violation on a case-by-case basis.
Comments (1)
It Never made Sense!
Why would Anyone be a political commentator based on acting/athletic ability??
It'd be like "Stretch"