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Olympic response upsets

NZPA-Reuter Washington! The United States Secre-i tary of State (Mr Cyrus! Vance) says Washington is] disappointed by its allies' re-1 sponse to President Carter’s] call for a boycott of the; Moscow Olympics. “I think it is unfortunate; that there seems to be a! lack of clarity' among our| allies as to what their posi-i cion will be,” Mr Vance said; in a French television- inter-] view broadcast. The Olympic boycott, pro-! posed by Mr Carter in repr-i iisal for Soviet military] .intervention in Afghanistan.' came under criticism from] an unexpected quarter yesterday. i Mr Ronald Reagan, the; I Right-wing Republican who] I leads the field to challenge 1 |Mr Carter for. the Presidency] :in November, said it looked] ,as though the United States] would be the only big country to stay away from the Moscow Games. Mr Reagan said in Kansas city, Missouri, that he still supported the boycott personally, but it was not working and United States athletes should be allowed to compete if they wanted to. As things stood, he’ said “the Russian people • will think the United States is I not attending because it. idoesn’t want to be beaten.” i Forty Governments have (backed President Carter’s (boycott call. Among America’s principal European allies, however, the Governments of France, Italy, and West Germany have not declared their positions on the boycott, while in countries like Britain and the Netherlands, Governments have endorsed the boycott but ■ national Olympic committees have opposed it. ■ The Canadian Olympic, Association has decided to send a team to Moscow. Canada was an early supporter of the boycott, but the then-Prime Minister, Mr Joe Clark, has since lost office. and .Mr Pierre Trudeau has been less enthusiastic in backing President] Carter. I In Australia, however, the: yachting federation has. reached an agreement with the pro-boycott Government which almost certainly means that no Australian yachtsmen will compete in the Soviet Union.

The Government promices $50,000 to send crews and boats to Europe for any alternative competition.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19800402.2.72.3

Bibliographic details

Press, 2 April 1980, Page 9

Word Count
333

Olympic response upsets Press, 2 April 1980, Page 9

Olympic response upsets Press, 2 April 1980, Page 9