In a year, the Winter Olympics will begin in Beijing.

An Olympic game that is beginning to face more and more critical voices due to, among other things, the country's treatment of Muslim Uighurs and the occupation of Tibet as well as the oppression of ethnic minorities ahead of the country's latest Olympics, the 2008 Summer Games.

Sweden's Minister of Sports Amanda Lind (MP), together with the other sports ministers, recently handed over a letter to the EU Commissioner for Sports, Mariya Gabriel, stating that they want to ensure that human rights are respected at major sporting events.

All EU sports ministers have signed the letter.

- We want to focus on the issue that human rights need to be taken into account when planning major sporting events.

We have seen that this type of arrangement has been used to legitimize or strengthen existing oppressive regimes and it is basically a problem that the sports movement needs to take seriously, says Amanda Lind to SVT Sport.

"Must continue the discussion"

Lind emphasizes that work has been done on the issue of the Olympic Games, but that work needs to be continued.

- When it comes to the Olympic Games, they have tried to formulate how such events can be done in a more sustainable way.

That discussion must continue to take place within the international sports movement, she says and continues:

- It is of course also the case that sport has an opportunity to build bridges between people and create understanding between countries, but one can not close one's eyes to the fact that such major championships are also used for legitimate purposes.

Want to see other countries arrange

Amanda Lind says that she wants to see that the sports movement itself also marks the issue.

- The important thing now, before new sporting events of this size are planned, is that the international sports movement can set up clear demands for human rights.

She wants to see more countries able to host the championships.

- It is important that democratic countries raise their hands and are prepared to arrange this type of event.

That it should be possible in both an economically and socially sustainable way, says Lind.

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Newspaper in Belarus saw the IIHF's decision: "We have been robbed" Photo: Bildbyrån.