#6 Abiding by Your Principles — International Olympic Committee (IOC) Adds Anti-discrimination Clause to Host City Contracts

REAL SPORTS Most Important Moments in Sports 2014 edition

Shortly before the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, a series of anti-gay “propaganda” laws were announced by Russian authorities. Active and former Olympians began protests before the Games began and continued throughout the events. The athletes cited Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter, which states: “Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement.”

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The U.S. government joined in the protests, with the Sochi Games becoming the first since 2000 at which the opening ceremonies were not attended by the president, vice president or first lady. President Barack Obama strengthened the protest by naming openly gay athletes to the official United States delegation, which was led by former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Ice hockey player Caitlin Cahow, figure skating legend Brian Boitano and tennis legend Billie Jean King all sat with the delegation at either the opening or closing ceremonies.

In response to the protests and to pressure from organizations including Athlete Ally and Human Rights Watch, the International Olympic Committee announced in September that an anti-discrimination clause based on Principle 6 will be included in the binding contract between the IOC and host cities. The IOC has informed the three finalist cities competing for the 2022 Winter Olympics – Oslo, Norway, Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Beijing – of the change to the final contract.

The move is expected to help avoid a repeat of the furor surrounding the Sochi Olympics, where many athletes and spectators feared an increase in arrests or homophobic attacks. In developing and announcing the anti-discrimination clause, the IOC is putting pressure on other athletic governing bodies to take similar steps when selecting sites for their events. FIFA, soccer’s governing body, has the men’s World Cup scheduled for Russia in 2018, and in Qatar – where homosexuality is illegal – in 2022. Whether it is too late to have an effect on those events is debatable, but the IOC’s move is well received, and we applaud it. [RS]