How to boycott the Olympics (9 photos) Bashny.Net

In January 1980, US President Jimmy Carter has called to boycott the Olympics in Moscow in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; his position was supported by 64 countries. And this is not the first time the Olympic Games is a field for the expression of political orientations.

Paris, 1924




At the Olympics of 1920, which was held in Antwerp, Belgium, were invited to Germany and its allies in the First World War, including Soviet Russia, which the West has been declared a political boycott. Four years later, the Soviet Union had refused to go to the Olympics, although the Supreme Council of Physical Culture under the CEC of the RSFSR from France received an official invitation. For such a gesture were two reasons. First, the Soviet Union thus supported Germany, which is still not invited to the Olympics, commemorating the First World War. Secondly, the charter of the Red Sportinterna, which was the Soviet Union obliged its members to deal with the bourgeois sport organizations, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was the first on the list. The Soviet Union boycotted the Olympic competition, spending instead proletarian Olympics up until 1952.

Berlin, 1936


The prospect of the XI Olympic Games in Nazi Germany a little pleased countries who planned to take part in them. At the conference in defense of the Olympic idea, which was held in Paris in June 1936, all the "people of goodwill and friends of Olympic ideas" called for a boycott of the game in the Third Reich. Instead, they were invited to the People's Olympics in Barcelona. To achieve this the Council had to fight for the transfer of the Olympic Games in Berlin. At the same time the IOC has sent experts to Berlin who are not noticed in the capital of Nazi Germany is nothing contrary to the Olympic principles.

As a result, July 19 Games unveils Hitler and hold parallel People's Olympics in Barcelona did not work - in the same month, Franco revolted against the Republican government of Spain.

Athletes had to compete under the flag with the swastika, which was hung with Berlin. Out of the participants excluded the Swiss Paul Martin, who was married to a Jewish woman.

The Nazis carefully studied American and European teams for the purity of Aryan blood, thinking ahead of time about the generation of the "children of the Olympic Games." Despite this, the triumph of the racist ideology of the games did not work - ten blacks took six gold, three silver and two bronze medals, and the best athlete of the Olympics has been recognized by the black sprinter Jesse Owens.

Only after World War II, the IOC has publicly admitted their wrong decision not to change the venue of the 1936 Olympics.

Melbourne, 1956


Among the countries that boycotted the Summer Olympics in 1956 (held in November - December), there are three groups. For the first - Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, and Cambodia - move was a reaction to the Suez crisis and the aggression of France, Britain and Israel towards Egypt.

Second - Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands - did not go to the Games in protest against the suppression of the uprising by Soviet troops in Hungary last month. Hungarian athletes themselves dissatisfied with the new pro-Soviet government refused to serve under the flag of the People's Republic of Hungary and appeared at the Olympics under the flag of Hungary specimen in 1918. Some of them after the competition has not returned home.

Private reason for the boycott of the Olympics has been and the People's Republic of China, which protested against the invitation team in Taiwan as an independent state.

Tokyo, 1964


The invitation to the capital of Japan in 1964, South Africa was denied by the government for pursuing the policy of apartheid and a life sentence to the future first black president Nelson Mandela. The sporting community of South Africa was able to return only in 1992.

Meanwhile, its drama developed in Asia in 1962, held in Jakarta IV Asian Games, which did not allow teams of Israel and Taiwan (they were denied visas). IOC Olympic Committee stripped authority of Indonesia in connection with racial discrimination in this country, and that in retaliation, announced that it would hold its own games for developing countries (Games for the New Emerging Forces, GANEFO). In 1963, the first competition was attended by 50 countries. Then the participants of the IOC banned GANEFO perform at the Olympics. Therefore, Indonesia has decided to boycott the Games, and it supported the DPRK.

Montreal, 1976


Olympic games in Montreal boycotted by 26 African countries, which failed to achieve a ban on participation in the game for New Zealand, competed in the rugby in South Africa despite the imposed sanctions against the country. IOC justified by the fact that rugby is not included in the Olympic program. For African countries have joined the protest Iraq and Guyana.

Taiwan's team did not go to Montreal because of the fact that Canada did not want to recognize the independence of the island. In 1975, Canada has threatened not to allow Taiwanese athletes to the Olympics, which intended to serve under the flag of partially recognized Republic of China, despite the fact that the IOC has recognized its National Olympic Committee. According to one version, Canada made this decision under pressure from Beijing, as China has been the largest trade partner of the country.

IOC threatened to ban the holding of the Olympic Games in Montreal, while Canada proposed Taiwan to use their flag and national anthem, but refused to recognize the Republic of China as an independent state, so the Taiwanese delegation did not go to Montreal. China, in turn, did not take part in the Games in protest against the fact that the IOC recognized Taiwan as an independent state.

Moscow, 1980


Followed by the United States against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan made by all the countries - members of NATO and some allies of the United States and Britain. In addition to the 64 States that have formally declared their intention to boycott the Olympic Games, 16 more limited because it does not encourage their athletes to take part in it.

National Australia, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Britain and some other countries were not under the national flags and the flag of the IOC. In case of victory it did not sound national and Olympic anthem.

Los Angeles, 1984


At the next Olympics socialist country accused the US of "fanning anti-Soviet hysteria" and almost entirely boycotted Los Angeles. Exceptions were only Yugoslavia and China, which first participated in the Olympics. Romanian athletes at the Games were in private.

"With the direct connivance of the American authorities have intensified dramatically different kind of extremist organizations and groups openly aiming at the creation of" intolerable conditions "for the visit of the delegation of the USSR, the Soviet athletes. Prepare political demonstrations hostile to the USSR, to the NOC of the USSR, Soviet athletes and officials heard overt threats of physical violence. The ringleader of the anti-Soviet, anti-socialist organizations are representatives of the US administration, their activities are widely promoted by the media. To justify this campaign by the US authorities and the organizers of the Olympics made constant references to all sorts of legislation ", - reads the statement of the National Olympic Committee of the USSR on May 8, 1984.

In addition to the countries of victorious socialism, boycotted the Games, Libya and Iran, unhappy with Israel's participation in them.

Seoul, 1988


At this time, the initiator of the boycott made North Korea, which would like to spend part of the competition in its territory, but has not received the approval of the IOC. Then the DPRK completely refused to participate in the Games, what it was supported by Cuba, Nicaragua and Ethiopia. In Seoul, the team did not come from Albania, the Seychelles and Madagascar, but the official boycott of these countries did not declare. The socialist states North Korea did not support because the Soviet Union did not dare to miss two consecutive Olympics.

Sochi 2014


The idea to boycott the Olympic Games originated in 2008 during the Russian-Georgian war. By the international community called for Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. At the same time a US-European boycott of the Winter Olympics called for American newspapers.

Last summer, when many of the conflict 08.08.08 forgotten, the international community responded to the painful decision by the State Duma law banning propaganda of homosexuality. One of the first to boycott the Olympic Games in Sochi called British actor, writer, playwright and openly gay Stephen Fry. "In the general interest of humanity, proclaimed the Olympic Movement, the IOC have to say a firm no barbaric, fascist law passed by the Duma with the filing of Putin" - Fry wrote in his blog. He compared the actions of the Russian authorities against gays discriminatory policies of the Third Reich for the Jews and expressed concern that homosexual athletes may be at risk in Russia. Fry the position shared by his compatriot, actor Rupert Everett.

On the refusal of the visit to Sochi have already declared British Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama, German President Joachim Gauck, French President Francois Hollande, President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite and European Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding. At the same time, not all of them speak directly about the political reasons for his decision.