Olympic chiefs slam Lebanese team over clash with Israelis

August 9, 2016 Agencies
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The International Olympic Committee on Sunday issued a stern warning to the head of the Lebanese delegation to the games over his refusal to share a bus to the opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro with the Israeli team.

The logo of the International Olympic Committee. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

The logo of the International Olympic Committee. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

On Friday, Lebanese delegation head Salim al-Haj Nicola physically prevented Israeli team members from boarding their designated bus. They were ultimately provided with alternate transportation to Maracana Stadium.

Nicola was summoned for a hearing by the IOC on Sunday, and was reprimanded for his behavior.

IOC heads informed the Israeli delegation of the hearing and said they had made it clear that incidents of this nature “would not be tolerated.”

Nicola reportedly told the IOC that the incident had simply been “a misunderstanding.”

The heads of the Israeli delegation were pleased to hear about the action taken by the IOC and said they were eager to move on from the incident.

“I welcome the Olympic committee’s treatment of the shameful behavior and antisemitism demonstrated by the Lebanese delegation,” said Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev, who had expressed outrage over the incident. “I expect [the committee] to take this type of action in any instance of antisemitism and exclusion of Israeli athletes from competitions around the world. I thank the president of Israel’s Olympic Committee, Igal Carmi, for his cooperation and for his support of our athletes.”

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org)

Comments

3 Responses to “Olympic chiefs slam Lebanese team over clash with Israelis”
  1. Anita Jawary says:

    The Olympics stand for non-political and racial solidarity. Sport is the one arena where this is possible, and the basic ethic of the Olympics is just that.
    The Lebanese team should have been punished for their actions. Being ‘told off’ a few days later is no disincentive to do it again, or worse.

    • Adrian Jackson says:

      The Olympics is very political now and full of professional athletes and drug cheats rather than clean amateurs which was the original intent back in 1894.

      The Olympics have outlasted their usefulness and should be abandoned in the near future. They are also to costly for most countries to stage too.

      The concept of being nations together also failed in the late 19th, 20th and early 21st century as Earth was full of conflicts, from civil wars to world wars, in that 122 year period that killed over 100 million people at least.

  2. Adrian Jackson says:

    A silly thing to do placing two long term advisories on the same bus.

    Would the IOC put part of the UaS ans Russia team on the same bus – no way.

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