China is still preparing to host the 2022 Winter Olympics while carrying out an ethnic genocide. While U.S. politicians try to determine whether boycotting the games is worth depriving athletes of their dreams, the focus should shift toward the people who forced us into that decision: The International Olympic Committee.
The IOC awarded China the games in 2015 over Kazakhstan, knowing full well that China was one of the world’s worst human rights abusers. China had predictably clamped down on its citizens in the lead-up to the 2008 Summer Olympics, with the New York Times reporting on protesters being detained at the time.
Now, the cowards at the IOC hide behind the world’s athletes to avoid a global boycott of the games. IOC President Thomas Bach, who missed the 1980 Olympics in Moscow after West Germany joined in a boycott, has said it wouldn’t be fair to the athletes if countries boycott and complained that boycotting the Beijing Games over China’s genocidal actions is “discrimination.”
The IOC has created this problem, first by forcing Norway out of the bidding over its list of extravagant demands and then by passing over Kazakhstan in favor of China’s despicable regime. This, after already awarding China the 2008 Olympics and the 2014 Youth Olympics. The IOC could have stripped the games from China at any point and looked for a replacement. As recently as two months ago, the organization suspended all discussion of allowing Belarus to host IOC events for political reasons, proving that politics is always a consideration for the body.
The IOC prides itself on giving 90% of its revenue to the Olympic committees of other countries and other international sports organizations, but the 10% it keeps goes toward lavish hotels, first-class flights, and cash per diems for members on IOC business. IOC members are already wealthy, and Bach himself earns a salary of over $250,000, even though all IOC members are considered volunteers. The IOC also covers a suite year-round for Bach at the Lausanne Palace and Spa, whose cheapest suite totals nearly $400,000 per year.
The IOC made $5.7 billion in revenue between 2013 and 2016, which includes the 2014 Winter Olympics (in Vladimir Putin’s Russia) and the 2016 Summer Games. That kind of money is on the line for the IOC here, as the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games remain in jeopardy and countries float boycotts for Beijing in 2022.
Yes, a boycott would be terrible for American athletes. But letting China continue to push its propaganda through global sporting events is unacceptable, especially when the country is actively committing genocide and intimidating anyone who points out that fact. China can’t be rewarded for this behavior. The IOC has only itself to blame for doing just that, and it will do so again unless it is made to pay a financial price.
