Beijing Olympics: IOC chief Thomas Bach says warning against boycotts unrelated to 2022 Winter Games
- The IOC president says boycotts are a real danger but he was not referring to any specific country or individual during his IOC session keynote speech
- Bach says he is confident China will fulfil its commitments to human rights amid criticism of its treatment of Uygur Muslims
Olympic chief Thomas Bach on Saturday denied his warning against sporting boycotts was related to the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, adding he was confident China would uphold human rights amid criticism of its stance on Hong Kong and its treatment of Uygur Muslims.
Bach, who will seek a second term as International Olympic Committee president next year, said during an online IOC session late on Friday that boycotts of Games were a danger but they only hurt athletes and achieve little politically.
When pressed during a post-session press conference, Bach said he was not referring to threats related to the Beijing Winter Games.
“This was not related to Beijing or Beijing only,” Bach told reporters via video conferencing. “This was related to a number of experiences we had in recent months, in recent years. We had problems between different countries with visas, where athletes cannot travel to another country.
“We have seen these kinds of boycotts growing in the past two years, or one and a half years, and this was what I was relating to, not a specific country or a specific person.”