Athletes struggle to balance politics, Olympic decorum and sponsors
By Katie Thomas
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Whether speaking to a group of young softball players or plying her teammates with literature, Jessica Mendoza, a 27-year-old outfielder on the U.S. Olympic softball team, does not hesitate to speak her mind about the killings in Darfur.
But Mendoza stops short of publicly condemning China, which has close ties to the government of Sudan, because she believes it is impolite to criticize her Olympic hosts and because one of her sponsors, Nike, has a major marketing presence in China.
With growing protests in Tibet and pressure mounting on Olympic sponsors to denounce China for its policy on Darfur, socially conscious athletes said they were struggling to figure out how to honor their own beliefs while also respecting the purpose of the Olympic Games - the celebration of athletic excellence.
"I feel like there’s no one out there who would think that it’s a controversial issue to talk about 400,000 people being killed in Darfur right now," said Mendoza, who helped the American team win a gold medal in Athens in 2004. "But I’m not about to go into China and tell their government what to do."
This week, Mendoza said she would let her Nike representatives know about her participation in Team Darfur, a coalition of more than 200 athletes seeking to raise awareness about what the U.S. Congress and President George W. Bush consider genocide in that country. "I want them to know what my role is," she said. When she is not in uniform competing, Mendoza plans to wear her Team Darfur wristbands around Beijing, and she hopes to visit the Darfur region after the Olympics.
Brad Greiner, the co-founder of Team Darfur, based in Washington, and a former water polo player for UCLA, said these personal and business considerations had kept some well-known athletes from joining the coalition. Many are wary of speaking out, he said.
Last year, the basketball star LeBron James, of the Cleveland Cavaliers, would not sign a letter written by his activist teammate, Ira Newble, criticizing China for its Darfur policy, according to news reports. James, who is expected to play for the U.S. team in Beijing, said at the time that he needed more information. He has a $90 million endorsement contract with Nike.
The decision of whether to be an advocate carries risks for lesser-known athletes as well.
"This is their one time every four years to make money for a lot of sports," said Greiner, 24, who added that the group would intensify its push to sign up top athletes in the months leading up to the Summer Games. "So they need to take that into consideration when making a decision about whether or not to speak about Darfur."
Athletes have few formal guidelines to follow when deciding whether to take a public stand while in Beijing. Rule 51 of the Olympic Charter, the constitution of the Olympic movement, forbids athletes from participating in a "demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda" at Olympic venues. When the International Olympic Committee identifies a possible violation of Rule 51, it asks the Olympic Committee of the athlete’s country to investigate. Depending on the outcome, Olympians can be disqualified or sent home.
The question of whether Olympic athletes will have the right to express political views in Beijing erupted in February, after news broke that Britain and New Zealand were planning to require that athletes sign contracts barring them from speaking about politically sensitive issues. Both countries quickly reversed course.
The U.S. Olympic Committee permits athletes to express their own opinions, provided they do not violate the charter, said Darryl Seibel, a USOC spokesman.
Gary Hall Jr., who is trying to reach his fourth Olympics in swimming, said the committee would send subtle messages about avoiding controversial subjects during athlete media and cultural training for the Games. "It’s discouraged, that’s clearly understood," Hall said.
A 10-medal winner, Hall said he personally avoided speaking about politics, but he has been outspoken on subjects related to doping in sports. "There’s a time and place for the issues and causes," he said. "The Olympic Games and politics don’t go together well."
Giselle Davies, a spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee, said athletes would not be punished for honestly answering reporters’ questions.
Some athletes say they are willing to do whatever it takes to draw attention to their cause, even if it means getting expelled from the Olympics. Emanuel Neto, who expects to make the Angolan national basketball team, said he grew up surrounded by war and famine and, as a result, has empathy for the people of Darfur. "I’ve seen what those kids are going through and it’s really, really bad," said Neto, 23, a senior at Stony Brook University and a member of Team Darfur. "It doesn’t matter at this point what will happen to me. What matters to me the most is that something has to be done."
Although it is uncommon for sponsors to bar athletes from expressing political views, that could change if the situation worsens in Tibet and more athletes begin to speak out, said Alison Barnwell, the former athlete marketing coordinator for the USOC. "Especially if a company does business in China, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see them start adding in clauses that say athletes can’t make negative remarks about the situation," she said. The free speech issue could be skirted, she said, by arguing "they didn’t want their sponsorship to become a political platform for an athlete."
Anne Putz, Reebok’s head of corporate public relations, said in a statement that the company does not prohibit its athletes from expressing personal opinions. Reebok sponsors the Norwegian cyclist Thor Hushovd, who announced last week that he may boycott the Olympic opening ceremony to protest the Chinese crackdown on Tibetans. "We support our athletes 100 percent on the field, providing them with the best products to help them achieve their goals," Putz said. "Off the field, we never influence our athletes about their personal views."
A Nike spokesman said that the company does not limit or censor athletes’ comments. "Over the years, Nike athletes have spoken their mind on issues, and we support our athletes’ right to do so," KeJuan Wilkins, a Nike spokesman, said in a statement.
Joey Cheek, a gold-medal winner in speedskating in 2006, believes his activism has attracted sponsors. "I think that my earning potential has probably increased because I tried to focus on things that were more than just sports," he said. Cheek founded Team Darfur with Greiner.
Many standard sponsorship contracts contain clauses that could be used to terminate an athlete’s contract in the event a corporation wanted to sever ties. Peter Carlisle, the managing director of Olympics and action sports for the Octagon agency, which represents the American swimmer Michael Phelps, said many contracts contain language that allows companies to cancel a contract if an athlete does anything to materially damage the company or its brand.
Athletes have often used the Olympics to advance their political beliefs, said David Wallechinsky, an Olympic historian. In 1906, the Irish athlete Peter O’Connor, angered that he had been placed on the British team, climbed a flagpole and waved the Irish flag after winning a silver medal. In Berlin in 1936, two Korean athletes complained to the news media that the Japanese - who then occupied Korea - had forced them to take Japanese names and wear the Japanese uniform.
Perhaps the best-known example is the story of the American sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith, who at the 1968 Games in Mexico City raised their clenched fists on the medal podium during the playing of the national anthem in a salute to black power. The action enraged the Olympic organizers, and Carlos and Smith were ushered out of the country. Now, 40 years later, their action is celebrated as heroic and was recently selected by Nike as one of the six most notable Olympic moments of all time.
"I just don’t see how you can separate the Olympics from politics," Wallechinsky said. "The Olympics is part of the world, period."
Karen Crouse and Richard Sandomir contributed reporting.
Athlete refuses torch run
India’s soccer captain, Bhaichung Bhutia, has refused to carry the Beijing Olympic torch during its run through the Indian capital later this month in protest over China’s crackdown on recent protests in Tibet, The Associated Press reported from New Delhi.
The Indian Olympic Association, which is organizing the flame’s run in New Delhi on April 17, invited several top Indian athletes to carry the torch, including Bhutia.
Bhutia, among the first athletes to refuse to run with the torch, said he faxed his decision to the association Monday.
"I strongly denounce the repression and torture unleashed by the Chinese authorities in Tibet," said Bhutia, who is a Buddhist. "This time the Olympics are going to be held in China. I don’t want to carry this torch," he added. "I have many Tibetan friends and I have taken this decision to show my solidarity with them."
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