Paris Olympics: Up to 40 countries could boycott Games, says Poland sports minister

[Social Media]

Up to 40 countries could boycott the next Olympic Games, making the whole event pointless, said Poland's sport and tourism minister Kamil Bortniczuk.

His comments came after Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia jointly rejected an International Olympic Committee (IOC) plan to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete in 2024.

 

Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Paris Olympics if that occurs.

[billd766]

Good for them.

[RayC]

This is going to upset Manu

[Scott]

Off-topic graphic removed.

 

[Bangkok Barry]

Wouldn't it be interesting if France boycotted the Paris Games.

[IAMHERE]

Let's cross reference those countries with the countries that do the most athletic

drugs.

[placeholder]

8 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Let's cross reference those countries with the countries that do the most athletic

drugs.

And leave out #1?

Recent Russian doping controversies at the Olympics

https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-figure-skating-kamila-valieva-coronavirus-pandemic-sports-4229adb5538bc0b299e6b4f0294a1feb

[KhunLA]

So much for separation of sports & politics. 

 

They have become a bit of a joke anyway, with the doping, the pros competing against amateurs, it's all meaningless.

 

Tourist attraction for the country held at and advertising revenue, that's about it, nothing but a business.

[stevenl]

2 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

So much for separation of sports & politics. 

 

They have become a bit of a joke anyway, with the doping, the pros competing against amateurs, it's all meaningless.

 

Tourist attraction for the country held at and advertising revenue, that's about it, nothing but a business.

A business, yes. But meaningless far from.

[Harveyboy]

19 hours ago, RayC said:

This is going to upset Manu

oh my poor heart bleeds for little Napoleon Macaroooon..oh la la 

[RayC]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

So much for separation of sports & politics. 

Sports and politics have always been intertwined e.g. the ancient Olympics.

 

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

 

They have become a bit of a joke anyway, with the doping, the pros competing against amateurs, it's all meaningless.

Sadly, I agree to a large extent. Maybe I'm being a bit naive and it was ever thus but nowadays it does appear that, in some events, the outcome is dictated by who has the best drugs, not who is the best athlete.

 

Imo the expansion of the Olympics to include sports such as skateboarding devalues the Games.

 

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

 

Tourist attraction for the country held at and advertising revenue, that's about it, nothing but a business.

A business, yes but having said what I have previously, imo the Olympics do add something to a city (even if it is for only +/-2 weeks). I attended events at both Athens 2004 and London 2012 and I felt that there was a real (different sort of) buzz to both cities at the time.

[placeholder]

25 minutes ago, RayC said:

Sports and politics have always been intertwined e.g. the ancient Olympics.

 

Sadly, I agree to a large extent. Maybe I'm being a bit naive and it was ever thus but nowadays it does appear that, in some events, the outcome is dictated by who has the best drugs, not who is the best athlete.

 

Imo the expansion of the Olympics to include sports such as skateboarding devalues the Games.

 

A business, yes but having said what I have previously, imo the Olympics do add something to a city (even if it is for only +/-2 weeks). I attended events at both Athens 2004 and London 2012 and I felt that there was a real (different sort of) buzz to both cities at the time.

But for a couple of weeks of good feeling are they worth the billions it costs to stage them?

[RayC]

5 hours ago, placeholder said:

But for a couple of weeks of good feeling are they worth the billions it costs to stage them?

I doubt that any recent Olympics or senior football tournament has shown a positive financial return on its' investment. However,  it's a bit more than simply a 2 week 'feelgood' factor. Much depends on that word 'legacy' and how you measure it

 

In the case of Athens and London, these are some of the positives which are claimed to have come out of hosting the Games. (Admittedly, not the most independent of sources!)

 

https://olympics.com/ioc/news/athens-2004-olympic-legacies-in-the-greek-capital

 

https://olympics.com/ioc/news/london-2012-a-legacy-that-keeps-giving