LONDON – European sports ministers and Olympic committees have ruled out any boycott of the Beijing Games over China’s handling of the unrest in Tibet.
The BBC reported that European officials, meeting in Slovenia, said such political events should not be linked to sport.
Patrick Hickey, the head of the European Olympic Committees, said boycotts “have never worked”.
He said: “Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980, Los Angeles 1984 – the only people punished in a boycott are the athletes.”
Pro-Tibet demonstrators plan to stage a protest outside the International Olympic Committee’s Swiss headquarters today.
The demonstrators, representing more than 150 Tibetan support groups, will also call on the IOC to block plans for the Olympic torch to pass through the region.
