I read with fascination, surprise and amusement, the headline in The STAR’s Sports Page A-23 of the Saturday, Feb. 23 issue that stated, “Politics, sports don’t mix, says IOC head.” The headline was in reference to an interview on Thursday in Lausanne, Switzerland by the Associated Press (AP) of International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge.
Rogge was quoted to have said that the “IOC is a catalyst for change in China but it is not a panacea. It is a sporting, non-political organization and we cannot solve the problems of the world. I think it is unavoidable that non-governmental organizations want to leverage the business of the Olympic Games from China. We believe the Olympic Games are a force for good but don’t expect from the games what the games cannot deliver.”
Rogge’s remarks were apparently in response to the comments of Hollywood director Steven Spielberg who backed out of his role as artistic adviser to the Beijing opening and closing ceremonies. The AP said that Spielberg accused China of doing too little to end the problems of Darfur in Sudan where more than 200,000 people have died in conflict between rebels and government.
In backing out of the games, Spielberg said, ”I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual. At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies but on doing all I can to help bring an end to unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur. Joining the chorus of voices protesting China’s policies on, among others, human rights, Tibet, Darfur, press and religious freedom, were Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu who, in reference to the bloody civil war in Sudan, is seeking an end to the “use of rape as a weapon of war.”
American actress Mia Farrow expressed support for her countryman Spielberg by saying, “Let us hope that Mr. Spielberg’s decisive action will influence other participants, sponsors and supporters of the Olympic Games to speak out. This is the time to increase pressure on China, the host country of the Olympics and, tragically, the underwriter of the Darfur genocide.”
In this day and age, I think that it is almost impossible to avoid the overlap (some people call it confluence) between sport and politics, especially when the summer and winter Olympic Games are involved. To host the Olympics is to invite attention to oneself and open oneself to a cold and clinical look by the world under a microscope.
By hosting the Olympics, the Chinese opened themselves to such scrutiny. To be sure, the Chinese have many motives in hosting the Games. One is economic. When Sydney hosted the Olympics in 2000, it is said that the Australian economy was richer by about $5 billion.
The other motive is political. It is said that in its most basic form, politics consists of social relations involving authority or power. The Free Dictionary says that in a broader sense, any situation involving power, or any maneuvering in order to enhance one’s power or status within a group may be described as politics (e.g. office politics).
Chella Rajan in “Global Politics and Institutions” says “this form of politics is most associated with a struggle for ascendancy among groups having different priorities and power relations. Politics is therefore present in all forms of human activities whether corporate, academic or religious.
By hosting the Games, China is all set to use the Olympic stage to recast itself as a peace loving emerging economic superpower with legitimate aspirations in the community of nations. By hosting the Olympics, the Chinese are therefore making a political statement and “maneuvering in order to enhance one’s power or status within a group.”
The Olympics therefore is an integral part of its sports foreign policy and an instrument to advance its interest in the international community. That is why even if its spokesman says that “Darfur is not an internal affair of China, nor was it caused by China…it is utterly unreasonable, irresponsible and unfair to link the two together.”
As Olympics host, from which China stands to benefit, one cannot avoid China being held accountable for its actuations in the global arena.
Let’s face it. There is indeed, at the very least, a confluence of and overlap between sports and politics. The sooner we admit it, the better we can determine how to use both synergistically and constructively to improve the condition of mankind, which was, after all, the goal of Baron Pierre Coubertin when he founded the modern Olympics.