A coalition of athletes, their global trade union and human rights advocates on Friday urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone an athlete charter due to be adopted next week.
The Athletes’ Rights and Responsibilities Declaration is set for approval at a meeting in Argentina to help safeguard athletes from issues such as sexual and physical abuse, doping and discrimination.
However, the World Players’ Association urged the IOC to delay the project, claiming it failed to properly consult athletes or experts, and would “curtail fundamental athlete rights rather than protect them.”
“The IOC’s proposed declaration does not come close to respecting the internationally recognized human rights of athletes,” union executive director Brendan Schwab said in a statement, adding that it “relegates athlete rights beneath the rules of sport governing bodies and fails to give the victims of human rights abuse access to an effective remedy.”
The union, representing 85,000 athletes in more than 60 nations, was joined by athlete groups in the US, Britain, Canada and Germany in asking the IOC to shelve the proposal.
“We are not convinced that the athlete voice has been adequately sought out ... let alone fully integrated,” the multi-nation athlete group said in a letter to IOC president Thomas Bach. “This is not a process that can be rushed to adoption in less than a year.”
The Sports and Rights Alliance activist group, which includes Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Transparency International, also said that the IOC promoted the project without heading expert advice.
The Olympic project was steered by its in-house athlete commission, which includes IOC members elected by their fellow competitors in ballots at Summer and Winter Games.
“This is one of those projects and programs that are coming out of maybe a more dark side in sport,” IOC Athletes’ Commission chairwoman Kirsty Coventry told an Olympic conference in Buenos Aires. “We all want sport to create change and to create opportunities for athletes, and this is what we have come up with.”
Still, the alliance said in its letter to the IOC that the charter fell short of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and was “likely to mischaracterize or ignore certain rights.”
The players’ union also compared the IOC unfavorably with FIFA, which has made “binding policy commitments to human rights” and has an independent advisory board.
Coventry spoke at the two-day Olympism In Action forum, where she was joined on stage by British former cyclist David Millar. He served a two-year ban for doping before joining the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) athlete panel.
Millar questioned the “hundreds of millions” the IOC spends on its Olympic Channel broadcasting project, compared with a US$16 million annual contribution to WADA’s operating budget.
“It’s up to the IOC to lead by example and give the athletes hope that they are doing their best to help the athletes,” Millar told the audience of international sports leaders. “And I’m not sure if that’s the case at the moment.”
Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on Tuesday struck out 11 in five shutout innings to match a franchise record during his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics. “Pretty sick performance,” teammate Romy Gonzalez said. “It was fun to watch.” The only other Red Sox starter to rack up 11 strikeouts in his first career game was Don Aase versus the Milwaukee Brewers on July 26, 1977. “It was amazing, just to go out there and have that first opportunity,” Early said after getting the win in a 6-0 victory. “A long day of travel yesterday and just getting to the field, seeing
Mikel Merino on Sunday scored a hat-trick as a majestic Spain thumped Turkey 6-0 away in World Cup qualifying, while a brilliant Florian Wirtz free-kick helped Germany beat Northern Ireland 3-1 to get their bid up and running. European champions Spain were in unstoppable form in the central Turkish city of Konya, claiming their second biggest-ever away win in World Cup qualifying as Arsenal midfielder Merino scored his first professional hat-trick. Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez opened the scoring inside six minutes and later completed the scoring, with Ferran Torres netting the visitors’ other goal. The quality of Merino’s strikes was remarkable, with his
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
RSS