India to boycott London Olympics

Press TV

Indian athletes have threatened to boycott the London 2012 Olympic Games after it emerged that the head of the 2012 Games, Lord Coe, is involved in a deal with a chemical company.

Coe has signed a deal with Dow Chemical, the owner of the Union Carbide India Limited whose pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, killed up to 25,000 people and injured more than half a million in one of the world’s worst industrial disasters.

Indian athletes and sports bosses are to meet on 5 December to discuss a boycott on the London 2012 Olympic Games, revealed the Independent on Saturday.

Indian people have already been outraged by the fact that Dow Chemical is a key sponsor of the International Olympic Committee. Nevertheless, Coe’s decision to award the company with a £7m deal has made Indian athletes to consider plans for walking out of the London Games.

The former Olympics minister Tessa Jowell has urged Coe to abolish the deal saying “There is a point at which you have to say you cannot take the reputational risk.”

The British government, which has been embarrassed by the decision, is trying to persuade the Indian government to intervene in order to stave off the boycott in a bid to prevent any scathing attacks launched by human rights campaigners.

Nevertheless, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, the Indian state whose capital is Bhopal, has called upon the Indian government to support the boycott unless the deal is scrapped.

This is not the first time Britain is being threatened over boycotting London 2012 Olympic Games. Earlier this year Iran’s National Olympic Committee wrote to International Olympic Committee, and threatened to stay away from London Olympics, since the British officials used a racist logo, spelling the word Zion that is a biblical word for Israel.

London Olympics is apparently in crisis, as China and the US questioned the safety of the British capital to host the Games. After England hit by the massive August unrest, China that was proud of its staging of the 2008 Olympic Games, voiced concerns over whether London could be an enough safe place for the coming most important sport event.

The US officials also asked Britain to allow them to bring one thousands of their agents, including 500 FBI agents, to the Olympic Games in order to guard their athletes and diplomats.

With this regard, London 2012 Games is evidently bringing about dismay for Britain rather than the supposed “pride.”

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