ASAJ president against protests at Olympics

Livingston Scott/Gleaner Writer

President of the Aquatic Sports Association of Jamaica (ASAJ), Martin Lyn, strongly believes that though athletes may feel very passionate about certain subjects, protests and activism should not be allowed at the Olympic Games.

The Jamaican's reaction follows the recently announced guidelines from sports' world governing body the International Olympic Committee (IOC) outlining ways in which athletes are allowed to express their views at the Tokyo Games.

New rules will allow athletes to display slogans on clothing such as a T-shirt or making symbolic gestures like kneeling or raising a fist to express their views on an issue. This will only be allowed before the start of their events as is common with football.

However, they will not be allowed to conduct any sort of demonstration during competition, on the podium during medal ceremonies, in the Olympic Athletes’ Village, or at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games.

The International Federation of Water Sports (FINA) also followed suit and announced similar measures, namely, that swimmers would be allowed to express their opinions and views at news conferences and via media channels at the Tokyo Games. However, it prohibits protests during competition and medal ceremonies.

However, Lyn contends that if all and sundry are allowed to use the sport to voice ulterior agendas, sooner or later it will devalue the sport and turn away spectators.

"Keep everything separate. There are ways and means if you want to protest. You have athletes who have opinions about things like alcohol and various subjects such as rape, but they must keep those opinions out of the sport," he said.

"We can't have a situation where we use the sport for these things because sooner or later it will downgrade the sport," he added.

"You may have an opinion about something that I don't agree with, but I am still in the sport with you, and I wouldn't like to know that the way you feel about a certain position interferes with you and I as sporting persons. So they are not to use the sport to forward whatever opinion they have," he reasoned.

The new regulations have prompted criticism from some athletes, including Britain's Olympic swimming champion, Adam Peaty, who insists that athletes have a right to express their opinions without being punished.

However, Lyn noted that there will be exceptional situations, and usually, the overwhelming majority will get together and voice their disapproval.

"Recently, FINA made a rule that certain swim caps weren't allowed, and that only affected one group of people, and that was not fair," he said. "Jamaica and many other countries came out against the rule, and indeed, we got FINA to reconsider.

"Whether they do that in time for the Olympics remains to be seen, but they will reconsider it as it only affects one group, and a rule cannot just affect one set of people and not another," he stated.

Lyn said all stakeholders should look out for the best interest of the sport and reiterated that protests at the Games could have detrimental effects in the long run.

"We have to defend the sport. If somebody stands on the podium and defends the killing of Jews and I am on the podium with that person and I am Jew, what would happen on the podium on that day?" he posited.

"You cannot have somebody standing up on a podium and say they are for or against something. On the podium on the day an athlete must be an athlete, focusing on why you are there. So they must draw the line and know the difference," said Lyn.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com