{"id":439682,"date":"2020-07-12T00:20:02","date_gmt":"2020-07-12T07:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=439682"},"modified":"2024-10-28T11:28:09","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T18:28:09","slug":"how-the-olympic-games-displaces-the-poor-the-case-for-deep-reform-of-an-autonomous-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-the-olympic-games-displaces-the-poor-the-case-for-deep-reform-of-an-autonomous-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"How The Olympic Games Displaces The Poor – The Case For Deep Reform Of An Autonomous Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday Essay\/commentary:<\/strong> \u00a0It is no easy task to entice many of you to read more than 5,000 words on a massive downside of the Olympic Games this day of relative rest but I \u00a0recommend, nonetheless, to all who prepare for a the showcase of an autonomous Movement, to all who look forward, as we do, to the thrill of the action at Tokyo 2020NE<\/a> and all who see the biggest multi-sports event on the planet as a height of entertainment (A.K.A , self-governed, autonomous Big Business with meagre – and in some areas zero – independent oversight) to take the time to understand an aspect of a realm they are part of that does not deserve support.<\/p>\n

Indeed, in these days of heightened awareness among athletes, here is an aspect of the Games that athletes need to be far more aware of as they seek a fairer share of the revenues that flow from the Olympic Games: if the moment marks the culmination of the hard work of 4, 8 and sometimes more years to achieve your sporting goals, for others, a Games can mean the loss of home, rights, dignity, livelihood among the poorest members of society. Athletes want a greater return for their investment. Fair Play. But have they considered whether the returns on their investment are ethical?<\/p>\n

\"coaracy-nunes\"

Coaracy Nunes – FINA Bureau member 2000 until his arrest in 2017 – Photo Courtesy: PBK<\/p><\/div>\n

When Coaracy Nunes<\/strong><\/a>, long-term member of the FINA Bureau, passed away of late, the passages notice from the international federation failed to mention that he’d been sent to jail for fraud directly related to his role in sport and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. FINA’s leadership, the tier of governance below the International Olympic Committee<\/strong> top table on which the swimming federation is represented by its president, never called an Ethics panel inquiry into those events, nor any of the events associated with seven criminal investigations against Bureau members in the past decade. FINA’s leadership has not removed the honours handed out to those subsequently investigated for or prosecuted for crimes directly related to their roles in sport.<\/p>\n

Dr Lothar Kipke was criminally convicted in the 1998-2000 Doping Trials in German for abuse of minors. He has his FINA honor to this day. No athlete or any other representative body within FINA or the Olympic Movement has called for that to be changed or backed calls, such as those from Swimming World,<\/a> for that to be changed.<\/p>\n

The flip side of the coin is that athletes who opt not to have their photograph taken next to a challenger with a doping record face immediate punishment.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

There is also this: omert\u00e0. When insiders do raise legitimate questions in-house, they face barriers<\/a>, some of which are so high that they feel obliged to lodge their complaints with state prosecutors in an effort to have proper inquiry in pursuit of answers and justice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One realm, one set of rules – but in the gap between governors and athletes there are often two very different interpretations and outcomes, with questions from media left ignored and unanswered, the silence of guardians and governors a part of the foundations that hold the Olympic edifice in place.<\/p>\n

There is often a gulf, too, between the Olympic Games and Movement and the people who live in host cities and countries. What happens in that gulf is something Olympians and the rest of us should not turn a blind eye too.<\/p>\n

In this strangest of Olympic seasons, COVID-19 having wiped out the sporting calendar, there is time to think deeper and more laterally about the Olympic Games beyond the rush of excitement that holds hands with the Games once every four years and often blinds us to what’s going on back stage and how the whole thing affects those living in host cities and countries.<\/p>\n

The 5,500 words are not mine\/ours. Here is the story I recommend you read, this day or any other:<\/p>\n