IOC: “Kneel Before Us, Without Kneeling”

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Some assholes in charge of shit deciding that their subordinates should “stick to sports.”

Rings a bell, no?

Well the IOC and the various idiots comprised therein, as well as their Athlete’s Commission (which sounds like a fancy name for an internal commission that has no input from actual athletes), have agreed that that’s the policy to have.

USA Today has the full story here.

If you look at that closely, you’ll see that it primarily indicates that the field of play, medal stands, and village are all out when it comes to staging a protest. The IOC seems to believe that sports and politics do not cross over, ever, which is the final nail in the coffin of pretending that anyone on that committee lives in the real world. I mean, seriously? The Olympics themselves have been a political platform for DECADES. 1933, 1968, 1972, for better or for worse, have all had indelible political aspects. When you are gathering the nations of the world together, it is inevitable. And what about that whole “United Korea” shit? That literally just happened. And it was sanctioned by the IOC themselves.

That tells me that the message really is “politics is OK when we do it, but you athletes better shut yer yaps or face the consequences.”

It also outlined times that athletes will be allowed to express political views: In press conferences, at team meetings or on digital media platforms.

“It should be noted that expressing views is different from protests and demonstrations,” the guidelines say.

The IOC added that disciplinary action for any breaches of Rule 50 in Tokyo “will be taken on a case-by-case basis as necessary,” in consultation with the athlete’s national Olympic committee and the relevant international federation.

No word on if those consequences will include medal forfeiture, but I’m sure that vagueness is by design.