This week crucial for Olympic Games

Press, 12 May 1980, Page 1

This week crucial for Olympic Games

NZPA London A decisive week has begun for the beleaguered Olympic Games in Moscow.

The French National Olympic Committee is expected to make up its mind today on whether to follow the call by President Carter of the United States for a boycott. The West German committee Will decide on Thursday.

The Games are still in confusion, after the United States Olympic Committee’s decision not to participate. But two facts are now firm: — Teams . need not use their national flags and anthems if they do not wish to.

— The Games. will not be postponed, in spite of. moves.by some members of the International Olym-

pic "Committee i tb;i have them put back for one year.

Lord Killanin, president of the 1.0. C., held secret talks with the Soviet President, Mr Leonid Brezh- ; ney, and said the Russians accepted his plan to permit participating countries to drop their national flags and anthems during the Games.

However, all the Communist countries will use their flags and so will most African nations. . .

But pro-American delegations, torn between loyalty to the Olympics and indignation over die Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, may. ” use the. Olympic flag 'instead,' by way of protest. Some teams’ may’ go further and boycott " the parade, al- s though competing in the sports. ; Lord Killanin has a possible meeting lined up •with.Mr..Carter, but. it is

thought they might' 'riot' have anything profitable to say to each other. The 1.0. C. has no hope of. persuading ’the’ United ’States to change its stand. If Lord Killanin goes to the «’ White House, he will ; probably concentrate .on ", the future of the Games, >■ particularly the 198.4 y Olympics planned for Los £ Angeles. t Hints have comi from Moscow that the United ' States Olympic Committee should be censured and s have the 1984 Games ? taken away. In the' meantime the Russians will not hear of a postponement, of the j Moscow Games. The possibility was mentioned in- , Lord Killanin’s Moscow talks but will not be taken ’ further. ■ •_ ; ,

Olympic sources said a postponement would cause too many, problems. Next year’s sports calendars would have to be scrapped ’to make way for an Olympics. Athletes have geared their training to a four-, year cycle. Many make the Olympics the climax ,of ; their amateur , careens and plan,, to retire and start .business - careers imjnediately after the Games, j. .Yet some LO.C. members: favour, a., postponement,. figuring that if the Games -were delayed -ujitil <l9Bl, the Afghanistan situation might go away and. friendly relations,’ between' the. .Soviet Union 1 arid the “Vest might be restored.-* ... . • Mr Kevan Gosper, . the ; Australian. member, of ? the •1.0. G.. iTs . one of,; .the i strongest/ ■:> advocates, ■ sof .postponement,-- . . “There "is a serious .'dahB wholefutureof go ahead- in a. ■ watered-down form, with

k perhaps 50 or 60 countries | taking part,” said Mr GosE per. who won a silver " medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at Melbourne in 1956, in London last week. Last week the New Zealand and Peruvian committees came out in favour of sending teams to Moscow. Those of Argentina and Liechtenstein have decided - to stay away. / . • ■ Committees firmly lined “ up behind the boycott include those of the United States, Canada, Norway, and Kenya., Those of Britain, Austria, Sweden, and Greece are committed to sending teams; • The committees have .until May 24 to send in their entries,/but most are expected to decide . before then.■ ;J .. ■ . The LO.C. executive board plans to meet in Lausanne on June 9. Mr Gosper has suggested a . .full/meeting of . the : committee but. .-this , is. discounted. “““ .“It is imnossible.” Lord Killanin said.' ; At least a ■ month’s notice' has’ to; be before- holding an

extraordinary session. The next full meeting of the LO.C. will be in Moscow in the week before the Games in July. Only a full session of the LO.C. can change rules. But the executive board can make recommendations to deal with an emergency, and those can be ratified at the last minute before the Games begin. Rules would have to be changed, for example, to allow individual athletes to compete in Moscow if their committees apply a boycott. That has been rufed out thus far, but some LO.C. leaders still have the possibility in mind. ' .. The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Taiboys) has attacked New Zealand’s decision to compete at Moscow. It was a certainty that New Zealand would now be one of the few Western countries there, Mr Talboys told NZPA from Rome. Commenting for .the first time on the decision of i the New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth, Games Association, he Gaid he

had hoped the association w’.ould have had a wider appreciation of “the political significance of , any decision it might take.” But the Government’s policy was quite clear — while opposed to the Games’ being held in Moscow, it acknowledged the association had to make ___ its own decision.. Mr Taiboys said he had the utmost sympathy for sportsmen and women who had trained for the Games but they, too, should be aware of the wider significance of goi.ig to the Olympics. Asked if he thought New. Zealand’s international reputation would be harmed by the decision, Mr Taiboys said: “I think that is implicit in my re- ■ marks about considerations wider than just sport.” From Berne, it is reported that the Swiss National Olympic Committee has voted in favour of participating at . Mos : cow but has said member federations may take their own decisions whether to send athletes. The Portuguese Government has Portu-

gal’s National' Olympic Committee to boycott the Moscow Games. The committee will decide on' the matter on Thursday. West Germany’s Gymnastics Federation has decided to boycott the Games even if Germany’s national committee decides to compete. But chiefs of the West German Athletics Association have said they have told their representative on the committee to vote in favour of sending a team. The German sailing and shooting federations have already said they’ will back the boycott. From Auckland, it is reported that in spite of efforts by yachtsmen and at least one association, the New Zealand Yachting Federation has no plan to call a special meeting to reconsider the decision not to send a yachting team to Moscow. ; The/ president of the federation (Mr H. L. Julian) ' said: “Nothing has changed. I have spoken to my councillors and not one of them feels the need to convene a meeting. “The Wellington Yacht- ': ing Association has nob-

received the support of: the Auckland body in its attempt to have, the matter reconsidered — indeed the Auckland association has supported the federation,” said Mr Julian. “Naturally I am sorry the yachtsmen are unable to go but the federation is elected once a year to make decisions and that is our decision. “I have received a letter signed by all members'of the yachting contingent and while I respect their views, ‘it is not yyithin their ambit to make such a move,” said Mr Julian. “Unless sufficient coun-, cillors of the 16-man executive, can make up a quorum and press to have a special meeting, the federation is not scheduled to meet until the time of the annual meeting on June 21.” ’ ’ . By that date all the New Zealand Olympic yachtsmen "will be in Europe for the many regattas which had originally been arranged as pre-Olympic competition)