Category: Sports

Australian politicians are lining up to back a bill that would allow trans women to be banned from female sports – including the country’s prime minister Scott Morrison.

According to The Guardian Australia, several politicians have supported a proposed bill led by Liberal backbencher Claire Chandler and supported by Liberal candidate Katherine Deves, which will allow sporting groups and clubs to exclude trans women from single-sex sports.

Liberal Queensland senator Matt Canavan reportedly told the newspaper: “I support senator Chandler’s bill.”

He added: “I think [the bill] represents millions of Australians, especially Australian women who don’t want to see their daughters work hard, try hard, get up early to become the elite at their [sport] and then someone with a clear biological advantage can just beat them.”

South Australian Liberal senator Alex Antic referenced the bill in an email to supporters, alleging that the Labor Party “are already pushing for this ideological agenda to be taught in schools, they want men to be able to play in women’s sports, enter women’s private spaces and erode the sex-based rights and protections of Australian women and girls”.

Morrison also seemed to support the bill, stating that he “shares” the views of Chandler and Deves with regards to the proposed legislation, however he has since said that there are no plans to expand the bill in parliament.

He explained that the proposal >was only a private member’s bill and that “the government doesn’t have any plans for that to be a government bill.”

Several scientists and athletes have spoken out about global proposed bans on trans women competing in sports, arguing that trans women do not necessarily have an advantage over cis women.

A spokesperson for trans youth charity Mermaids said: “Trans women do not have an unfair advantage in sports and their participation does not harm trans women.

“To even be considered eligible to compete at an elite level, female trans athletes must undergo hormone therapy and rigorous testing for at least a year prior to training and competing.

“As we’ve seen with athletes such as Lia Thomas and Laurel Hubbard, who’ve both been beaten by cis-female athletes in their respective sports, being trans does not guarantee a win.”

Ben Holmstrom, a minor league professional hockey player with New York’s Rochester Americans team, has received an eight-game suspension from the American Hockey League (AHL) for using homophobic language. Some online commenters have said the punishment isn’t enough.

The 34-year-old player was heard using anti-gay language against Comets forward Chase De Leo at the end of the first period in their March 30 game. The exact language Holmstrom used is unclear, but his team’s general manager, Jason Karmonos, acknowledged the incident in a statement.

“We were made aware of an inappropriate comment made by one of our players in a recent game. Once aware, we took immediate action through numerous conversations with the player, team, and league,” Karmonos wrote. “To be clear, we have no tolerance for any form of hate and regret any harm his comment inflicted. We strive to maintain an inclusive environment in which our differences are celebrated. We have sought counseling and awareness resources for the player.”

The “awareness resources” will include “diversity and inclusion education” for Holmstrom, the AHL wrote in a statement.

While some web commenters expressed appreciation for the AHL’s swift action, others noted that San Jose Barracuda forward Krystof Hrabik received a 30-game suspension for allegedly directing racism towards Tuscon Roadrunners forward Boko Imama. Imama is Black.

“Hrabik got 30 games for a racist gesture. Holmstrom gets eight games for a homophobic slur,” wrote Twitter user @SeanOBrien81. “Not exactly holding everyone to the same standard, are we? To be clear, Holmstrom should not be getting a significantly lighter suspension here.”

Holmstrom has already sat out from five games, according to the Los Angeles Blade. He will remain suspended from the ice until April 19, when the Americans face the Springfield Thunderbirds.

A 2021 study of LGBTQ athletes found that 70 percent of 820 out queer student-athletes had heard anti-LGBTQ language from teammates before coming out. However, the same study found that 82 percent reported positive experiences after coming out, including acceptance and support from their teammates.

As such, the study suggests that sports teams may actually be accepting of LGBTQ players, even if their teammates have used anti-queer language.

In July 2021, the Nashville Predators defenseman Luke Prokop made history by becoming the first active National Hockey League (NHL) player to come out as gay. While that’s a big deal for a major league, he’s definitely in the minority.

In fact, throughout history, there have only been a very small group of U.S. male athleteswho have come out while still playing in pro-sports.

Until the AHL and NHL do more to embrace such players, sports fans won’t likely see many queer athletes on the ice.

Rainbow flags could be taken from fans at the World Cup in Qatar to protect them from being attacked for promoting gay rights, a senior leader overseeing security for the tournament told The Associated Press.

Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari insisted that LGBTQ couples would be welcomed and accepted in Qatar for the Nov. 21-Dec. 18 FIFA showpiece despite same-sex relations remaining criminalized in the conservative Gulf nation.

But Al Ansari is against the overt promotion of LGBTQ freedoms as symbolized by the rainbow flag that FIFA and World Cup organizers had previously said would be welcome across Qatar’s eight stadiums.

“If he (a fan) raised the rainbow flag and I took it from him, it’s not because I really want to, really, take it, to really insult him, but to protect him,” Al Ansari told the AP. “Because if it’s not me, somebody else around him might attack (him) … I cannot guarantee the behavior of the whole people. And I will tell him: ‘Please, no need to really raise that flag at this point.’”

Al Ansari is director of the Department of International Cooperation and Chairman of the National Counterterrorism Committee at the Ministry of Interior where he discussed World Cup planning for an hour with the AP.

“You want to demonstrate your view about the (LGBTQ) situation, demonstrate it in a society where it will be accepted,” he said. “We realize that this man got the ticket, comes here to watch the game, not to demonstrate, a political (act) or something which is in his mind.

“Watch the game. That’s good. But don’t really come in and insult the whole society because of this.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said this week in Doha that “everyone will see that everyone is welcome here in Qatar, even if we speak about LGBTQ.”

Al Ansari said he is not telling LGBTQ fans to stay away from Qatar or warning them of facing prosecution.

“Reserve the room together, sleep together — this is something that’s not in our concern,” he said. “We are here to manage the tournament. Let’s not go beyond, the individual personal things which might be happening between these people … this is actually the concept.

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“Here we cannot change the laws. You cannot change the religion for 28 days of World Cup.”

TRANSGENDER KIDSAriana Grande pledges to match up to $1.5 million to fight anti-trans bills

When it was pointed out that visiting fans and teams could take offense to the comments, Al Ansari said he did not view himself as being discriminatory.

“I am risking … a minority view against a majority,” he said. “We have to be close to the problem before it erupts and gets out of control. … If somebody attacks you, then I have to get involved and it will be too late.”

FIFA chief social responsibility and education officer Joyce Cook told the AP in 2020 that “rainbow flags, T-shirts will all be welcome in the stadium — that’s a given. They understand very well that is our stance.” World Cup chief executive Nasser Al-Khater also said “we will respect” FIFA guidelines on allowing rainbow flags.

But Al Ansari’s comments about the confiscation of fans’ rainbow flags have created confusion for activists, including Chris Paouros, a member of the English Football Association’s inclusion advisory board and trustee with the anti-discrimination group, Kick It Out, which want a safe and inclusive tournament.

“This inconsistency and the continued lack of detail in terms of how that will be provided beyond the rhetoric of ‘everyone is welcome’ is concerning to say the least,” Paouros said.

The FARE network, which monitors games for discrimination, called for the freedoms of fans to be respected at the World Cup.

“The idea that the flag, which is now a recognized universal symbol of diversity and equality, will be removed from people to protect them will not be considered acceptable, and will be seen as a pretext,” FARE executive director Piara Powar said. “I have been to Qatar on numerous occasions and do not expect the local Qatari population or fans visiting for the World Cup to be attacked for wearing the rainbow flag. The bigger danger comes from state actions.”

US basketball icon Brittney Griner’s detention has been extended for another two months, according to a state news agency. 

The Olympic gold medallist and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star has been held in Moscow since February when customs officials allegedly found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. 

News of Griner’s arrest didn’t make headlines until early March, and Russian state TV recently released a photograph of the out athlete in custody holding up a piece of paper. 

Amid concerns for the top athlete’s safety and calls for her return home, a Russian court has ruled that Griner’s detention will be extended until 19 May. 

Major Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported that the Khimkinsky court in the Moscow region had “granted the request of the investigation” and extended Griner’s custody for an additional two months. 

The WNBA star faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty by the Russian court. 

Ekaterina Kalugina – a member of the Public Monitoring Commission, which is a semi-official body that can access Russian prisons – told TASS that the basketball star was sharing a single cell with two other women, who had no previous convictions. 

According to Kalugina, Griner’s main issue with her imprisonment was that the prison beds are too small for her tall frame. 

Griner is among a dozen WNBA stars who played in Russia or Ukraine this past season, with Griner playing professional basketball in Russia for the last seven years. 

All except Griner have successfully left since Russia invaded Ukraine. 

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton has joined the growing number of people calling for Griner’s release, tweeting “Free Brittney” on Wednesday (16 March). 

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said that the league is working with other agencies to bring the Phoenix Mercury star centre home, according to the Associated Press. 

“Everyone’s getting the strategy of say less and push more privately behind the scenes,” Engelbert said. 

“It’s the strategy you get from the State Department and administration. It’s our number one priority in talking with her agent and strategists.”

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the government agency is “doing everything we can to support Brittney Griner” and her loved ones as well as to “work with them to do everything we can, to see that she is treated appropriately and to seek her release”. 

Brittney Griner remains in custody in Russia, with the country’s state-owned media releasing new images of the WNBA star.

News broke over the weekend that Griner, a seven-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medallist, was arrested in February after customs officials allegedly detected hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow.

Amid growing concern for her wellbeing and continued calls for her release, Russian state TV broadcast a photograph of the out athlete in custody holding up a piece of paper.

The image, which was released on Tuesday (8 March), was too blurred to be able to make out what was written on the paper.

The Russian Federal Customs Services released a statement claiming that officials detained Brittney Griner in February for possession of vape cartridges that contained hashish oil.

It also released a video that showed airport security workers searching the luggage of a passenger, who was later identified as Griner.

The customs service said a criminal case has been opened, and Griner could face up to 10 years in a Russian prison if convicted.

Brittney Griner had been playing for the Moscow team UMMC Ekaterinburg and was reportedly earning $1.5 million (£1.1 million) for the off-season – six times her WNBA salary with the Phoenix Mercury.

The exact date of her arrest remains unclear and it is still unknown where the star is now.

Concern for the sports star continues to grow as she remains detained, with a former Pentagon official telling Yahoo Sports she feared Putin could use the LGBT+ icon as a “high profile hostage” during the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“If we want her out of jail, Russia is going to have some terms,” said Evelyn Farkas, who served as the US deputy assistant secretary of defence for Russia and Ukraine from 2012 to 2015. “It could be a prisoner swap. They also could use it as an implicit threat or blackmail to get us to do something or not do something. Either way, they find it useful.”

Texas congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is among those calling for Griner’s swift release.

“We know that there were some issues dealing with vape cartridges and other items but let me be very clear,” said Lee, who represents Griner’s hometown of Houston, Texas, in the House of Representatives. “Brittney Griner is a United States citizen, she was a guest in Russia … and I will be demanding her release.”

Lee added that Russia’s actions in Ukraine undermined its authority, saying: “I don’t want to disregard a sovereign nation but Putin has disregarded sovereign nations his entire service in this world.

“Anyone that is killing and attacking and destroying Ukraine, a neighbouring country that is not bothering them, has no right to hold Ms Griner. Period.”

According to the Associated Press, Griner has played professional basketball in Russia for the last seven years.

She played for her Russian team the UMMC Ekaterinburg on 29 January before the league had a two-week break in early February.

Over a dozen WNBA players have played in Russia and Ukraine this winter, and the WNBA confirmed that all players besides Griner had left both countries.

News of Brittney Griner’s detainment comes as the US placed sanctions on Russia after Putin ordered his forces to invade Ukraine last month.

Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) icon Brittney Griner has reportedly been taken into custody in Russia on drug charges. 

Griner, a seven-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist, was arrested after customs officials allegedly detected hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow, the New York Times reported. 

The Russian Federal Customs Services released a statement that officials detained the player in February for possession of vape cartridges that contained the oil found in her luggage. It also released a video that showed airport security workers searching the luggage of a passenger, who was later identified as Griner.

The customs service said a criminal case has been opened, and Griner could face up to 10 years in a Russian prison if convicted.

Griner’s agent Lindsay Colas told the Guardian that they are aware of the “situation” with the Phoenix Mercury player in Russia. Colas said the agency is in “close contact with her, her legal representation in Russia, her family, her teams, and the WNBA and NBA”. 

“As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not able to comment further on the specifics of her case but can confirm that as we work to get her home, her mental and physical health remain our primary concern,” Colas said. 

The WNBA said that Griner has the league’s “full support”, and its “main priority” is her “swift and safe return” to the USA. 

The Phoenix Griner said on Twitter that the team is “aware of” and is “closely monitoring” Griner’s situation in Russia. 

“We remain in constant contact with her family, her representation, the WNBA and NBA,” the team said. “We love and support Brittney and at this time our main concern is her safety, physical and mental health, and her safe return home.” 

According to the Associated Press, Brittney Griner has played professional basketball in Russia for the last seven years. She played for her Russian team the UMMC Ekaterinburg on 29 January before the league had a two-week break in early February. 

Over a dozen WNBA players have played in Russia and Ukraine this winter, and the WNBA confirmed that all players besides Griner had left both countries. 

Griner’s wife Cherelle thanked those who had reached out “regarding my wife’s safe return from Russia” in an Instagram post on Saturday (5 March). 

“Your prayers and support are greatly appreciated,” Cherelle wrote. “I love my wife wholeheartedly, so this message comes during one of the weakest moments of my life.”

She asked fans to honour the family’s privacy as they continue to work to get Griner home. 

News of Brittney Griner’s detainment comes as Russian forces continue their deadly invasion of Ukraine. 

The Ukrainian military said it had fought “fierce battles to maintain certain borders” against Russian forces, the Guardian reported. It claimed there was an “extremely low morale and psychological state” among Russian troops because of the Ukrainian resistance. 

The US embassy in Moscow released a security alert on 27 February that said an “increasing number of airlines” have been cancelling flights in and out of Russia. The embassy advised that US citizens should leave Russia “immediately via commercial options still available”. 

On Friday (5 March), the US embassy in Moscow warned citizens not to travel to the country “due to the unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces in Ukraine, the potential for harassment against US citizens by Russian government security officials” and the embassy’s limited ability to help US citizens in the country. 

The Yankees were late on introducing an African-American player to their roster, adding Hall of Famer Elston Howard to the team in 1955, eight years after Jackie Robinson starred for the Brooklyn Dodgers.  The Yankees seem determined not to repeat that bad history.  Last week, they announced that Rachel Balkovec will become the first woman to manage a team in minor league baseball when she takes the helm of the Tampa Tarpons this spring. 

It has been just over ten years since Justin Siegal threw batting practice to the Cleveland Guardians and five since she was the first woman to coach a MLB squad with the Oakland Athletics.  Two years ago, Kim Ng became the first female General Manager of any of the four major professional sports when the Marlins hired her to run their team.  In the two years since then, the dam has burst.  Women have been hired to important on-field positions with professional baseball at an impressive clip.  As baseball has lagged behind other professional sports in bringing women into the game, the current pace of hires indicates that baseball’s embrace of analytics and objective measures have finally penetrated the walls of one of the most enduring old boys clubs in the U.S. and given talented women opportunities they have long been denied.

Ten women will be coaching with major or minor league teams in 2022.  In 2021, Bianca Smith became the first African-American woman to coach in the minors when the Red Sox hired her. Alyssa Nakken became the first woman in uniform during a Major League Baseball game when she coached first base for the Giants in a July 2020 exhibition against the Oakland A’s.  Her jersey now belongs to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  Cuban-American Veronica Alvarez is not only the coach of the U.S. Women’s National Baseball team, she also served as a spring training coach for the Oakland A’s.

The proliferation of women in baseball is not an accident.  More girls than ever are playing baseball.  Here, in the DC area, 160 girls participated with D.C. Girls Baseball in 2021.  Baseball for All, an organization that supports and promotes girls in baseball, held a tournament last summer that drew nearly 600 girls who play baseball.  There are more women than ever on collegiate baseball rosters.  Major League Baseball has also devoted significant resources to girls and women in baseball, running several development camps for girls in baseball.  Six of the women now coaching professional baseball participated in MLB’s Take the Field initiative, which is designed to help place women into baseball positions. To top it all off, the classic film about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, A League of Their Own, is getting a reboot on Amazon Prime this year.

The pace of hiring is exhilarating.  Unfortunately, every report of a woman being hired is followed by predictable hateful commentary on social media.  Many cannot imagine that a woman may be hired for a baseball position on merit and resort to making sexist and derogatory comments.  As women in baseball, the coaches are used to that vitriol and have developed thick skin and sophisticated defense mechanisms.  However, also reading are thousands of girls who are inspired by the achievements of these women and they are, sadly, learning that to achieve in baseball means enduring the sexist taunts, gross come-ons, and hurtful comments.

Baseball has a long way to go.  Other leagues have women officiating games, so it should be reasonable to expect that baseball will have women umpires in the near future.  The possibility of women playing professional baseball is tantalizingly close as 17 year old Genevieve Beacom made history last week as the first women to play Australian professional baseball, when she threw a scoreless inning against the Adelaide Giants.

We are watching a revolution in baseball unfold before our eyes. 

The 2022 Winter Olympics start this week, and there will be a minimum of 34 athletes competing in nine different sports over the three week-long festivities in Beijing, China that are part of the LGBTQ community. That’s the most ever in Winter Olympics history, beating the 15 out athletes recorded at the 2018 Games.

Team USA will have six out athletes among their 222 named squad members, including three on the figure skating team. They will send the second most out athletes to the Winter Olympics, following Canada with 10.

The athletes are included in an ongoing list being compiled by LGBTQ sports site Outsports, which reported at the end of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo just months ago that there were 186 out athletes that participated in those Games.

Out of the 34 known to be part of the LGBTQ community and competing in Beijing starting this week, 11 are men — the most, since there hadn’t been any men that competed while out at the Winter Olympics prior to Gus Kenworthy, Adam Rippon, and Eric Radford in 2018. 22 of the out competitors are women, and one — Timothy LeDuc — is non-binary.

Kenworthy and Radford are returning for their second straight Games while out, in addition to out athletes Brittany Bowe, Belle Brockhoff, Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, Kim Meylemans, Sarka Pancochova,  and Ireen Wüst, who are also returning for yet another Olympics. Rippon and Hendrikx — who competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada — are returning as coaches.

Team USA’s out athletes will include LeDuc, Jason Brown, and reserve member Amber Glenn on the figure skating squad. Alex Carpenter will compete in ice hockey, Andrew Blaser in skeleton ice skating, and Bowe in speedskating.

Bowe became the first out athlete to earn a roster spot to compete for Team USA in the Olympics’ 109 scheduled events in the upcoming Games. She will compete in the 500 and 1000-meter ice speed skating competitions, after giving up the 500-meter ice speed skating spot she initially qualified for in favor of her friend and teammate, Erin Jackson. Now they will both race in the 500-meter for Team USA.

The Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing from February 2 to February 20, 2022, with the opening ceremony being held on February 4 and the closing on February 20. The first medals for the competitions in the 15 disciplines scheduled for the Olympics will be awarded on February 5. Citing the pandemic, organizers plan for audiences to only consist of invited individuals chosen by Olympic organizers, instead of ticket-buying spectators.

Multiple human rights activists and advocacy groups are against holding the upcoming Olympics and other sports events in anti-LGBTQ areas or countries with questionable human rights records. This also includes and the FIFA World Cup scheduled to be held in Qatar later this year and the Gay Games scheduled to be held in Hong Kong in 2023.

Officially, the United States government has enacted a diplomatic boycott of China for the Olympics, meaning they will not send any non-athlete representatives of the country to appear at the Games. Although athletes are allowed to compete as normal, China’s foreign ministry and Chinese media are already accusing Team USA athletes of planning to “sabotage” the Winter Olympics by going as far to “even refuse to take part” in events — proving that political issues will remain an issue at these Games as they did at previous ones.

China considers LGBTQ activists to be political dissidents and subjects them to surveillance, harassment and imprisonment. The country lacks marriage equality as well as LGBTQ non-discrimination protections.

At the Summer Olympics held last year in Tokyo, the United States finished with the most medals in the end, but “Team LGBTQ,” as the out athletes competing have been dubbed, earned 56 medals between them. That would have put them in sixth as an official Olympic Team.

That means Team LGBTQ had more medals than 200 Olympic squads that went to Tokyo. That was despite the exclusion of several out athletes from certain sports that excluded several athletes that largely excluded gender diverse athletes or those with differences in sex development (DSD).

In November, the International Olympic Committee released new guidelines for transgender participation in their sports that activists and athletes alike are hailing as a massive victory for trans equality.

Those principles – developed after two years of consultations with over 250 athletes and other “concerned stakeholders” – include inclusion, prevention of harm, non-discrimination, right to privacy, and – perhaps most notably – no presumption of advantage. However, they are not binding across the entire Olympic body.

“No athlete should be precluded from competing or excluded from competition on the exclusive ground of an unverified, alleged, or perceived unfair competitive advantage due to their sex variations, physical appearance and/or transgender status,” it says, adding that no athlete should be deemed as having an unfair advantage unless “robust and peer reviewed research” finds otherwise.

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympicswill open amid atrocity crimes and other grave human rights violations by the Chinese government, 243 nongovernmental organizations from around the world said today. The groups urged governments to join a diplomatic boycott of the Games, slated to begin February 4, 2022, and for athletes and sponsors not to legitimize government abuses.

“It’s not possible for the Olympic Games to be a ‘force for good,’ as the International Olympic Committee claims, while the host government is committing grave crimes in violation of international law,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.

Under President Xi Jinping, Chinese authorities have been committing mass abuses against Uyghurs, Tibetans, ethnic groups, and religious believers from all independent faith groups. They have eliminated independent civil society by persecuting human rights activists, feminists, lawyers, journalists, and others. The government has eviscerated a once-vibrant civil society in Hong Kong, expanded tech-enabled surveillance to significantly curtail the rights to expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and allowed the use of forced labor, in violation of international law.

Chinese authorities also continue to threaten members of diaspora communities, public figures, and companies beyond China’s borders through a sophisticated campaign of transnational repression.

“That the Winter Olympics is held in Beijing sends a signal to the world that Xi Jinping’s government is normal,” said Renee Xia, Director of Chinese Human Rights Defenders. “When the world rationalizes away such an abusive situation, it makes it harder for victims to stand up against injustice.”

Since the Chinese government was awarded the 2022 Winter Games in 2015, nongovernmental organizations and media outlets have documented numerous serious human rights violations by Chinese authorities. Those include:

• Arbitrary detention, torture, and forced labor of millions of Uyghurs and other Turkic groups in Xinjiang (the Uyghur region);
• Decimation of independent media, democratic institutions, and rule of law in Hong Kong;
• High-tech surveillance systems enabling authorities to track and unjustly prosecute peaceful conduct, including criticism shared through apps, such as WeChat;
• Prosecution of people exercising rights to free expression, peaceful assembly, and association on behalf of vulnerable populations, including the lawyers Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, the citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, the Tibetan monk and writer Go Sherab Gyatso, and public health activists known as the Changsha Funeng group; and
• Arbitrary detention, torture, and forcible disappearance of human rights defenders, including Gao Zhisheng and Guo Feixiong.

“The spectacle of the Olympics cannot cover up genocide,” said Omer Kanat, executive director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. “It’s hard to understand why anyone feels it’s even possible to celebrate international friendship and ‘Olympic values’ in Beijing this year.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said that its human rights obligations, announced in 2017, do not apply to the 2022 Winter Games. The IOC has not met its responsibilities under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by carrying out human rights due diligence despite the well-documented abuses in China, the groups said.

In other respects, the IOC has shown that its stated commitment to human rights means little. IOC President Thomas Bach participated in a Chinese government propaganda campaign to whitewash the sexual assault allegations brought by three-time Olympian Peng Shuai. The IOC has been unwilling to meet with the End Uyghur Forced Labor (EUFL) coalition, and has sported uniforms made by a company credibly alleged to use forced labor.

“The IOC claims that sport and politics do not mix, but the Chinese government was the one that used the 2008 Beijing Olympics to serve its political interests,” said Bhuchung K. Tsering, interim president of the International Campaign for Tibet. “Tibetans in Tibet then took the risk to tell the world about this, but the IOC didn’t pay heed. The upcoming Beijing Olympics is a unique opportunity for the IOC and governments to empower their athletes and press Chinese authorities to abide by international norms.”

The top corporate sponsors of the Games – Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyota, and Visa – have also not fulfilled their human rights due diligence responsibilities. The companies have not provided meaningful public responses to concerns that their sponsorship creates or contributes to human rights violations, or whether they have acted to mitigate those violations. Sponsors should immediately disclose their human rights due diligence strategies, or explain their failure to carry out such assessments, the groups said

Several governments, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, and the United States, have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Games in response to the Chinese government’s human rights abuses. They will send no senior officials – a longstanding Olympic tradition – to the opening or closing ceremonies. All governments, whether joining the diplomatic boycott or not, should use the opportunity to not only support the athletes participating in the Games, but also demonstrate concrete support for human rights defenders across China.

“We urge governments to send messages of support to human rights defenders in prison or detention who are paying a great price for advocating reform, defending the rights of others, or simply discussing ways to strengthen civil society in China,” said Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China.

Those participating in the Beijing Olympics face a host of human rights risks, the groups said. IOC rules prohibit athletes from publicly expressing their views on human rights in China on the Olympic podium, and Chinese authorities’ retaliation against critics creates a chill for athletes worldwide. The Chinese government’s willingness to arbitrarily detain foreigners for peaceful criticism, such as the Swedish publisher Gui Minhai, further limits free speech. Olympic athletes, coaches, and other support staff are also likely to be subjected to pervasive state surveillance, particularly through monitoring of digital communications.

“Athletes upholding Olympic ideals should not have to face omnipresent surveillance, repression of free speech or belief, and an insecure human rights environment to participate in the Games,” said Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid.

Spectators around the world watching the Winter Games can play a positive role by educating themselves about the human rights environment inside China, and can take actions ranging from purchasing products not made with forced labor to encouraging their own governments to pursue accountability for Chinese government officials responsible for the worst international crimes. People can urge companies to sign the EUFL coalition’s Call to Action.

“The stark reality of the Chinese government’s atrocity crimes and ongoing impunity should compel the IOC, sponsors, and others associated with the Olympics to question whether these Games are legitimizing and prolonging grave abuses,” said Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress. “No one should want another Olympics like this.”

Nongovernmental Organization Signatories:

1. 6.12 Manchester Working Group
2. ACAT Belgium
3. Adas Israel Social Action Committee
4. Alberta Uyghur Association
5. All Citizenship Compact
6. Alliance for Vietnam’s Democracy
7. ALTSEAN-Burma
8. American Alliance for Automotive Corporate Social Responsibility
9. Amigos del Tibet Chile
10. Anti-China Expansion Movement                                
11. Anti-Slavery International
12. Army of Survivors
13. ARTICLE 19
14. Asociación Cultural Tibetano-Costerricense
15. ASSEMBLY FOR DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM
16. Athenai Institute
17. Athlete Activist
18. Athlete Ally
19. Australia Tibet Council
20. Australian Centre for International Justice
21. Australian East Turkestan Association
22. Australian Uyghur Association
23. Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association
24. Austria Uyghur Association
25. Bauhinias For Freedom
26. Bay Area Friends of Tibet
27. Be Slavery Free
28. Belgium Uyghur Association
29. [Redacted For Anonymity]
30. Bloc 8406 International
31. Blue Crescent Humanitarian Aid Association
32. Campaign For Uyghurs
33. Captive Nations Coalition of the Committee on Present Danger: China
34. China Against the Death Penalty
35. China Human Rights Defenders
36. ChinaAid
37. Chinese Democracy And Human Rights Alliance
38. Christian Coalition for Uyghur Freedom
39. Church of Scientology National Affairs Office
40. Citizen Power Initiatives for China
41. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
42. Comitato Lady Lawyer Village
43. Comité de Apoyo al Tíbet CAT
44. Congregation Beth Ora
45. Consortium for Intersectional Justice
46. Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience
47. Corporate Accountability Lab
48. CSW
49. Czech Support Tibet
50. Dawn of HongKong
51. Den norske uyghur komiteen
52. Dialogue China
53. Dominican Sisters Grand Rapids
54. Dutch Uyghur Human Rights Foundation
55. East Turkestan Press and Media Association
56. East Turkestan Union of Muslim Scholars
57. East Turkistan Association in Finland
58. East Turkistan Association of Canada
59.  [Redacted For Anonymity]
60. East Turkistan Education and Solidarity Association
61. East Turkistan Entrepreneur Tradesmen and Industrialists Businessmen Association
62. East Turkistan Human Rights Watch Association
63. East Turkistan New Generation Movement
64. East Turkistan Nuzugum Culture and Family Association
65. East Turkistan Sports and Development Association
66. East Turkistan Union in Europe
67. Eastern Turkistan Foundation
68. Emgage Action
69. Equality League
70. European East Turkistan Education Association
71. Family Research Council
72. FIDH – International Federation for Human Rights
73. FIDU – Italian Federation for Human Rights
74. [Redacted For Anonymity]
75. Finnish Uyghur Culture Center
76. Football Supporters Europe
77. Frankfurt Stand With Hong Kong
78. Free Tibet
79. Free Uyghur Now
80. Freedom House
81. Freedom Ummah
82. Friends of Hong Kong Calgary
83. Friends of Tibet Bulgaria
84. Front Line Defenders
85. [Redacted For Anonymity]
86. Germany Stands with Hong Kong
87. Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities
88. Global Athlete
89. Global Peace Mission (GPM) Malaysia
90. Grupo de Apoio ao Tibete-Portugal
91. Havurat Shalom
92. [Redacted For Anonymity]
93. Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
94. Hong Kong Committee in Norway
95. Hong Kong Democracy Council
96. Hong Kong Watch
97. Hong Kongers in San Francisco Bay Area
98. Hongkonger in Deutschland e.V.
99. HOPE not hate
100. Human Rights Foundation
101. Human Rights in China
102. Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa
103. Human Rights Watch
104. Human Rights Without Frontiers
105. Human Trafficking Search                             
106. Humanitarian China
107. Ilham Tohti Initiative
108. Indonesia Save Uyghur
109. International Campaign for Tibet
110. International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse In China (ETAC)
111. International Pen Uyghur Center
112. International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
113. International Society for Human Rights
114. International Support for Uyghurs
115. International Tibet Network
116. International Union of East Turkistan Organizations
117. International Uyghur Human Right and Democracy Foundation
118. Isa Yusup Alptekin Foundation
119. Islamic Community Milli Gorus
120. Islamic Information Services Foundation
121. Japan Uyghur Association
122. Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee Detroit
123. Jewish Movement for Uyghur Freedom
124. Jewish World Watch
125. Judicial Reform Foundation
126. Justice For All
127. Justice for Uyghurs
128. Lady Lawyer Foundation
129. Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice
130. [Redacted For Anonymity]
131. LICADHO
132. Louise Xin Group
133. LUNGTA – Actief voor Tibet
134. Malaysia Consultative Council of Islamic Organization (MAPIM)
135. Malaysia4Uyghur
136. Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations
137. Minaret Foundation
138. Minh Van Foundation                    
139. Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies
140. Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM)
141. National Clergy Council
142. Netherlands for Hong Kong
143. Norwegian Uyghur Committee
144. Omer Uygur Foundation
145. Overseas Liaison Office Representative for The Interfaith Council in Vietnam
146. Peace Catalyst International
147. Perth Anti-CCP Association
148. Power of Sport Lab / Athletes for Human Rights
149. People for Successful Corean Reunification (PSCORE)
150. Religious Freedom Institute
151. René Cassin, the Jewish voice for human rights
152. Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
153. Santa Barbara Friends of Tibet
154. Satuq Bugrakhan Foundation of Science and Civilization
155. Silk Road Peace Project
156. SoCal Students for Uyghur Justice
157. Society for Threatened Peoples
158. Society Union of Uyghur National Association
159. Stand with HK@JPN
160. Stand with Hong Kong Vienna
161. STANDNOW
162. Stefanus Alliance International
163. [Redacted for Anonymity]
164. Stop Uyghur Genocide UK
165. Stop Uyghur Genocide Australia
166. Stop Uyghur Genocide Canada
167. Students for a Free Tibet – Denmark
168. Students for Free Tibet – Japan
169. Students For Liberty – Myanmar
170. Sweden Uyghur Education Union
171. Swedish Tibet Committee
172. Swiss Tibetan Friendship Association
173. Switzerland East Turkestan Association
174. Sydney Uyghur Association
175. Taiwan Association for China Human Rights
176. Taiwan Association for Human Rights
177. Taiwanese Human Rights Association of Canada
178. Temple Shalom
179. Thailand and Hong Kong Together
180. The Army of Survivors
181. The Community Human Rights Promotion and Protection Association (ACPDH)
182. The Norwegian Tibet Committee
183. THE TAIWAN UNITED NATIONS ALLIANCE (TAIUNA)
184. The Tibet Support Committee, Denmark
185. The Viet Democratic Side’s International Forum        
186. Tibet Action Institute
187. Tibet Initiative Deutschland e.V.
188. Tibet Justice Center
189. Tibet Mx
190. Tibet Solidarity
191. Tibet Support Group Ireland
192. Tibetan Community in Britain
193. Tibetan Parliament in Exile
194. Tibetan Youth Association in Europe
195. Transparency International Deutschland e.V.
196. Tso Pema Non-Profit
197. Uigur Society of the Kyrgyz Republic
198. Uigurische Gemeinde Österreich
199. Umer Uyghur Trust
200. Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam                         
201. United Council of Vietnamese Homeland and Overseas
202. universitet Sulayman Demirel
203. Uyghur Academy Australia
204. Uyghur Academy Canada
205. Uyghur Academy Europe
206. Uyghur Academy Foundation
207. Uyghur Academy Japan
208. Uyghur Academy USA
209. Uyghur American Association
210. Uyghur Association of Victoria
211. Uyghur Center for Human Rights and Democracy
212. Uyghur Cultural and Education Union in Germany
213. Uyghur Education Union
214. Uyghur Human Rights Project
215. Uyghur Projects Foundation
216. Uyghur Refugee Relief Fund
217. Uyghur Research Institute
218. Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project
219. Uyghur Science and Civilization Research Foundation
220. Uyghur Support Group Netherlands
221. Uyghur Transitional Justice Database
222. Uyghur U.K. Association
223. Uyghur Youth Union in Kazakhstan
224. Uzbekistan Uyghur Culture Center
225. Verein der Tibeter in Deutschland
226. Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
227. Victoria Uyghur Association
228. Vietnamese Community of Pomona Valley                   
229. Visual Artists Guild
230. We The Hongkongers
231. [Redacted For Anonymity]
232. Women’s Rights Without Frontiers
233. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
234. World Uyghur Congress Foundation
235. (美国)民主中国阵线
236. 加拿大价值守护者联盟
237. 台灣聯合國協進會
238. 民主中華傳媒
239. 民主黨洛杉磯委員會
240. 洛杉矶中国民主平台
241. 自由中國
242. 自由雕塑公園
243. 華人基督徒公義團契