U.S. asks allies to heed athletes’ anti-Games stand

Press, 14 April 1980, Page 1

U.S. asks allies to heed athletes’ anti-Games stand

NZPA-Reuter

Colorado Springs

The United States Olympic Committee has endorsed President Carter’s call for a boycott of the Olympic Games at Moscow and the White House has called on other nations to do the same.

“We are confident that other leading nations of the free world will join in this demonstration ‘that no nation is entitled to serve as host for an Olympic festival of peace while it persists in invading and subjugating another nation,” said the presidential press secretary (Mr Jody Powell) after the committee’s decision. Administration officials said the Government had had “favourable communications” from several nations on the . boycott issue in recent days.

The United States Committee’s house of delegates voted 1607 to 797, with two abstentions, to sup-; port the boycott, which President Carter has urged since the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan.-

A committee spokesman said the decision was that “we do not send a team to Moscow unless President Carter notifies the U.S.O.C. that there is a change in the national security situation by May 20.”

That is the deadline for filing to participate in the Games.

The house of delegates; also rejected a resolution calling for participation in alternative Games.

Two other resolutions referred to ’as - “frivolous” by one participant were also rejected. One proposed that they “brusquely reject” President Carter’s boycott call.The nature of the other was not disclosed.

A separate resolution not considered proposed that United States athletes attend the Games at Moscow but refuse to participate in any of the functions there. Administration officials lobbied wavering committee members intensively over the last two weeks to persuade them to support a boycott. “I feel it was a right decision, but I feel very

deeply about the athletes,” said Mr Robert Kane, the committee’s president. Mr Robert Helmick, the president of the Amateur Athletic Union, which has lobbied for the interests of the athletes, said he voted in favour of the boycott.. “I had a lot of misgivings as to the policies and actions of the administration previously,” he said. But, noting that President Carter urged other nations to join the boycott, Mr Helmick said: “This showed that the President was firm in . a definite course of international action.” The United States’ decision was regrettable but would not influence the question of New Zealand participation, the New Zealand Olympics and Commonwealth Games Association chairman (Mr Lance Cross), said last evening. “I feel very sad about the United States decision because interest in the Olympic competition will be much less without their strong representation.

“I understand they have decided not to immediately decline the invitation, so there is still some hope. ‘We are continuing with Games preparation and the selected participants will be announced tomorrow, night,” MniCross said.

Four New Zealand ath- . letes—Dick Quax, Gregory Dayman (hockey), John' Walker and John Barrett (weight lifting)—said last evening that they supported the boycott in principle. But they were not considering withdrawing from the Games. Mr Vladimir Popov, the first deputy chairman of the Moscow Olympic Organising Committee, said it would be a “clear violation of human rights” if the committee bowed to pressure from President Carter and favoured a boycott. Mr Julian Roosevelt,

one of two American members of the International Olympic Committee, called the boycott decision “disastrous” and said it could threaten the 1984 Olympic Games scheduled for Los Angeles.

“I think the United States Olympic Commi«py has knuckled under'' political pressure unnt sarily,” he said. Mr Robert Kane, the. commitee’s president, said the vote was necessary because “the Olympic movement had to be preserved, the Olympic committee of this country had to be preserved and, more than anything ’ else, the preservation of our patriotism and the support of the United States had to be preserved.”

Sam Riggio, a representative of the United States Olympic softball team, said he believed Vice-Pres-ident Walter Mondale’s speech “had a lot to do with the way the delegates voted.”

Mr Mondale told the delegates that the “future security of the civilised world” hung on the decision.

Mr Donald Miller, the committee’s executive director, also said 275 delegates rejected by voice vote a proposal, made by the : Carter Administration,

to stage alternative ’ Games. J Chancellor Helmut Schmidt repeated yester- ; day that the West German Government would recoin- i mend that its athletes stay I away from the Games at j Moscow if Soviet troops > were not withdrawn from ’ Afghanistan by May 24. Diplomatic sources said the oil-rich Arab States of the Gulf region were “deliberately oblivous”’ of , ■the Moscow Games and would probably boycott them. Kuwait is the only Gulf state officially to announce it will send its athletes to Moscow. ■

In Canberra, the Australian Government’s belief that there would be an effective boycott of the Games had been strengthened by the United States Olympic Committee’s decision.

The vote by the United States Olympic Committee’s house of delegates had been expected and would have no bearing on the decision to be made by the Australian Olympic . Federation, said its presi- i dent (Mr Sydney Grange) in Sydney yesterday.

Indications in recent weeks are that the A.O.F. . will vote for sending a . team to Moscow, in spite } of the calls by the Federal . Government for a boycott