Bach: IOC to deal with political expressions at Games, not Chinese government

Athletes should not fear punishment from the Chinese government over the expression of political views at the Beijing Winter Games, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has said.

An official from the local organising committee, Yang Shu, said last month that behaviour and speech “against Chinese laws and regulations” would be “subjected to certain punishment”, raising concerns for the safety of any athlete who chooses to take a stand.

Bach was asked about IOC Rule 50, which governs political expression by athletes, and in particular the section which talks about athletes respecting “the applicable laws”.

He insisted political expression at the Games would be governed by IOC rules, that Beijing had agreed to this in its host city contract and that the IOC had no reason to believe this would not be respected.

He said on Thursday, on the eve of the opening ceremony, that any reported breaches of IOC Rule 50 would be investigated by its disciplinary commission.

Rule 50.2 forbids political expression in the Olympic Village, during competition on the field of play, at the opening and closing ceremonies and during medal ceremonies.

“In case of any infringements then the IOC disciplinary commission will take care of this, and this is the same situation as we had in Tokyo (for the Summer Games in 2021),” he said.

“There is no difference – the rule has not changed and the attitude of the IOC has not changed.

If an actor is engaging in a theatre, playing Hamlet, nobody ever asked the question whether when playing Hamlet, he must or should or can express his political opinion during the play, and the same is true for the athletes.- Thomas Bach

“I would suggest to every athlete, wherever the Games are taking place or