Los Angeles (AFP)
Women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe vowed that athletes would "not be silenced" on Friday after the International Olympic Committee warned of any form of political protest at the Tokyo Games.
"We are doing so much on the protests. We are doing so little on what we protest against. We will not be silenced," wrote the elected female 2019 Golden Ball player, after winning the World Cup with United States.
In his message, Rapinoe added an image showing fists raised through the five Olympic rings and these crossed out words: "knee on the ground", "hand gestures", "signs".
The 34-year-old sportswoman, also a feminist activist, reacted to the words of IOC President Thomas Bach, recalling that any political demonstration by athletes, coaches and officials was prohibited during the Olympic Games.
"The Olympics are not and should never be a platform for political demands or for any discourse of division", he argued at the opening of the 135th IOC session in Lausanne, stressing "the importance" of a series recently adopted directives intended to "clarify" prohibitions and sanctions in the event of breach of the principle of neutrality.
Athletes participating in the Olympic Games are therefore prohibited from expressing a political opinion "on the competition field, in the Olympic Village, during the opening or closing ceremonies or on a podium".
The guidelines made public on Thursday, however, allow athletes to do so "in compliance with local legislation during press conferences and interviews, in mixed zones and at the press center".
One of the most famous gestures is the black-gloved fist brandished by the Americans Tommie Smith, 200m Olympic champion, and John Carlos, bronze medalist, on the podium at the Mexico City Olympics, 1968, to protest against the discrimination against blacks in the United States. The two athletes were suspended by the IOC and banished from the Olympic Village.
Football world champion campaigning for gender equality and racism followed protest in 2016 by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick who knelt down during the national anthem to protest against police violence against blacks in the United States.
© 2020 AFP