The Belgian government said yesterday that it did not rule out the possibility of a boycott of the Beijing Olympics if the situation in Tibet worsened.
Vice Premier Didier Reynders told Le Soir newspaper yesterday that staying away from China "is not an option that we reserve today. But we can never exclude the worst."
His comments came a day after French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested he could boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
The sports minister of the northern Belgian region Flanders said he would not attend the opening ceremony in Beijing, as it could be used for propaganda purposes.
CASUALTIES
Recent unrest in Tibet has killed at least 22 people. The uprising was the broadest and most sustained against Chinese rule of the region in almost two decades.
It was against this backdrop that the Belgian government was holding out the possibility of a boycott.
"The government remains very attentive [as to] how the situation develops," Reynders said.
As things stood though, he stuck to the government line: "A boycott is not a good solution."
Bert Anciaux, the sports minister of the regional government of Flanders said he would not go to the opening ceremony.
"If public opinion wants to give a signal about human rights violations and cultural rights, then the use of the opening ceremony is not bad," Anciaux said, adding he would "not try to be part of the Chinese propaganda machine."
ROGGE
Anciaux called on International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, who is also Belgian, to respond to the Tibetan crisis.
"It is high time that the IOC proves that granting the games was not a blank check," he wrote on his Web site. "Now the IOC has to speak and say what it expects. To be silent now is to be complicit in the terror against Tibet and thousands of dissidents."
European governments had largely rejected any snub of the Olympics for political reasons.
Last week, EU nations and Olympic committees opposed a boycott of the Beijing Games over the Tibet protests.
The EU sports ministers and Olympic committees said sports should not be linked to political issues.
"A boycott will only destroy the dreams of thousands of athletes," Anciaux said.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS