Posted: 31 July 2012
By Aidan White
The London Games are up and running, but already the Olympic Charter of tolerance is being tested both in Britain and abroad.
London’s multi-million feel-good opening ceremony wowed sports fans around the world but it failed to impress Tory MP Aidan Burley who posted a message on his Twitter account saying it was “leftie multicultural crap” and provoking a storm of protest in the process.
David Cameron and Tory leaders now face new calls to suspend Burley from the parliamentary party. Last year he was sacked from a junior ministerial job after he took part in a Nazi-themed stag party in France.
Burley sent his Tweet just as athletes started to enter the stadium after Danny Boyle’s spectacular show. Although the show hardly touched on Britain’s imperial past, it did pay tribute to the home grown struggles for women’s equality, social rights and the creation of the welfare state.
Burley’s embarrassing came only days after another controversial incident, this time involving Greek athlete Voula Papachristou who was eliminated before she stepped on to the track, being sent home for a racist Tweet in which she poked fun at African athletes.
The Greek Olympics team acted quickly after she posted a tweet condemned as racist. “With so many Africans in Greece… the West Nile mosquitoes will at least eat homemade food!!!” was the ugly comment she posted.
Many people, including her coach thought the decision was harsh. A Facebook group titled “We want Voula Papachristou in London” was created within minutes of the announcement and soon counted more than 2,000 fans. “Since when is clever humor a crime?” one fan posted.
But it was more than a tasteless joke that led to her early flight home. She has publicly supported the far-right Colden Dawn party, a racist group with links to street violence and intimidation of minorities which recently won seats in the Greek parliament. Her backing for the party has been widely reported and the Greek Olympic Committee said she was being pulled from the team because her latest comments were against the Olympic spirit.
While these incidents may not have diverted the attention of many of the millions who have tuned in to follow the Games, they are a reminder that the Olympics are not the gold standard when it comes to diversity and ethics.
A report issued just before the opening highlighted the internal corruption at the heart of the International Olympic Committee, the governing body. It also shows that despite promises of reform over the past 30 years discrimination persists, particularly over the representation of women.