In Beijing, USOC Will Not Restrict Free Speech
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The United States Olympic Committee will ask American athletes to comply with international Olympic rules regarding free speech in Beijing, but won’t impose the extra measures the British federation has been criticized for.
International Olympic Committee rules state “no kind of demonstration or political, religious, or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues, or other areas.”
The British Olympic Association plans to require its athletes to sign an agreement barring them from making politically sensitive remarks or gestures during the Olympics, something that would be more restrictive than the Olympic charter.
The USOC has never had any rules that would be any more restrictive than what’s in the Olympic charter, spokesman Darryl Seibel said Monday.
After receiving criticism, British federation spokesman Graham Newsom said there had been “no intention of gagging anyone.”
