ATHENS, Greece, November 1. The International Olympic Committee rejected recent European Broadcasting Union protest over the change to morning swimming finals at the Beijing Olympics, according to Reuters reports out of Greece. The IOC stated that the schedule will not change.
"The decision on the competition schedule for 2008 was taken by the IOC's executive Board after a thorough consultation process with all stakeholders — broadcasters, athletes, international federations — and is final," IOC Director of Communications Giselle Davies said.
On Tuesday, the EBU had issued a public protest of the change.
"With this decision, the IOC ends the tradition of staging these finals in the evening irrespective of the time zone at the venue," said the EBU. "Viewers in Europe, as well as the vast majority of the global TV audience, will be disadvantaged."