A protest by college football players on June 30, 2020 in South Carolina.

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Maddie Meyer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) assured Tuesday that athletes engaged in the various selections for the Tokyo Games will be free to raise their fists or kneel during the national anthem, to support racial justice efforts.

Raised fist and t-shirts with message

Among the authorized protests, according to the new directive put in place by the authority, therefore figure the laying of a knee on the ground while the "Star Spangled Banner" will sound or on the podium, the fact of raising a fist on the podium. or on the starting line.

It will also be allowed to wear a cap / hat or mask with phrases such as "Black Lives Matter" (Black Lives Matter), "Trans Lives Matter" (Transgender Lives Matter) or words like "equality" (equality) or "justice".

The USOPC's approach is in the wake of the many demonstrations which have followed one another in the United States since last spring and the death of George Floyd, asphyxiated during his arrest in Minneapolis.

The IOC will review its regulations

It is a small revolution operated by the organization whose previous rules strictly prohibited any form of protest on the part of athletes.

Its officials, however, stressed that the new guidelines only apply to upcoming Olympic selection events.

The International Olympic and Paralympic Committees (IOC / CIP) will soon establish their own regulations in this area for the Tokyo Games.

Currently, IOC Rule 50 prohibits any form of protest by athletes at the Olympic Games.

What many American athletes and various international associations of athletes dispute.

Demonstrations severely repressed in the past

In January 2020, the body updated its rules on sports activism, banning any form of claim on podiums and sports fields.

Prohibitions that include posting political messages, hand gestures, kneeling, or refusing to follow medal ceremony protocol.

But the IOC then suggested that she was ready to soften her stance.

In the past, however, this body has shown itself to be very harsh towards protesting athletes, notably expelling American athletes John Carlos and Tommie Smith from the Mexico Games in 1968 for their fists raised in support of the “Black Power” movement.

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