It must be truly embarrassing for Olympic sponsors to be closely associated with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the scandalous outcome to the Olympic figure skating pairs event on February 11.
The verdict delivered by the International Skating Union (ISU) judges from Russia, China, France, Poland and the Ukraine was unequivocal: it was continental politics, not performance on the ice, that determined who won the Olympic gold medal.
This despicable conduct simply cannot go unchallenged. We are calling on Olympic sponsors to use their appreciable influence to have the IOC suspend the ISU until appropriate disciplinary action is taken to deal with those judges who made a mockery of their Olympic oath of fairness and impartiality.
The ISU?s attempt to control further damage to its oft-tarnished reputation by ?doing an internal assessment to monitor if the ISU rules and procedures have been respected? is yet another attempt by this corrupt federation to bamboozle the public and the media.
It will come as no surprise when this pathetic organization finds ?no evidence of any wrongdoing at the games of the XIX Olympiad? as soon as the public furor abates?
It must be tempting for Olympic sponsors also to ?wait out the storm of public opinion?. They could take the easy way out, and adopt the position that ?the judging at Olympic competitions is not the sponsors? business?.
But perhaps they would be running the risk that North American consumers will choose not to support with their dollars those Olympic sponsors who shamefully remain on the sidelines while this grave injustice is perpetrated on the true Olympic champions.
Was it naïve of the young Canadians to believe sincerely that their skating would be evaluated fairly, and that the best performance on the night of the competition would yield access to the highest step on the podium?
We exhort all fair-minded North Americans to punish financially those sponsors who elect to remain idle while having in their hands the power to ensure that justice prevails.
The verdict delivered by the International Skating Union (ISU) judges from Russia, China, France, Poland and the Ukraine was unequivocal: it was continental politics, not performance on the ice, that determined who won the Olympic gold medal.
This despicable conduct simply cannot go unchallenged. We are calling on Olympic sponsors to use their appreciable influence to have the IOC suspend the ISU until appropriate disciplinary action is taken to deal with those judges who made a mockery of their Olympic oath of fairness and impartiality.
The ISU?s attempt to control further damage to its oft-tarnished reputation by ?doing an internal assessment to monitor if the ISU rules and procedures have been respected? is yet another attempt by this corrupt federation to bamboozle the public and the media.
It will come as no surprise when this pathetic organization finds ?no evidence of any wrongdoing at the games of the XIX Olympiad? as soon as the public furor abates?
It must be tempting for Olympic sponsors also to ?wait out the storm of public opinion?. They could take the easy way out, and adopt the position that ?the judging at Olympic competitions is not the sponsors? business?.
But perhaps they would be running the risk that North American consumers will choose not to support with their dollars those Olympic sponsors who shamefully remain on the sidelines while this grave injustice is perpetrated on the true Olympic champions.
Was it naïve of the young Canadians to believe sincerely that their skating would be evaluated fairly, and that the best performance on the night of the competition would yield access to the highest step on the podium?
We exhort all fair-minded North Americans to punish financially those sponsors who elect to remain idle while having in their hands the power to ensure that justice prevails.
Facebook
Twitter