Veteran Canadian Olympic officials dismiss ‘silly’ calls to move 2022 Games from China
2021/02/22 Leave a comment
Not a “silly” call but an unrealistic one, and thus more virtue signalling than effective. Only realistic option is a boycott with as many countries involved as possible:
A number of Canadian politicians have called for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, China, to be relocated to another country, but Dick Pound, a Canadian member of the International Olympic Committee, says such a move is unfeasible at this late date.
“What the politicians are doing with this kind of a request of moving the Games with less than a year to go is silly,” said Pound, a former president of the Canadian Olympic Committee. “If they give this 30 seconds of thought, they know it’s not possible.”
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole and other politicians, including Green Party Leader Annamie Paul and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, have called for the relocation of the Games, pointing to the Chinese government’s treatment of its Muslim minority population.
Concerns have also been raised over China’s actions in Hong Kong and the ongoing detention of Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
Two of the people involved in organizing the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics agree the logistics involved in staging a Games make a move impossible.
“The ability for a country to step in this late — the headwinds are fierce,” said John Furlong, who was head of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).
“It makes for great headlines and it makes for great debate, but the truth is, it’s far too down the road to contemplate.”
Dave Cobb, who was VANOC’s deputy chief operating officer, said it takes years to prepare for an Olympics.
“It’s such a massive [project] that we took seven years and we needed every week of those seven years to be ready,” said Cobb.
The 2022 Winter Games are scheduled to open Feb. 4.
Source: Veteran Canadian Olympic officials dismiss ‘silly’ calls to move 2022 Games from China
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