Should we boycott the Olympics?

CantGetNoSleep · 26-03-2008 01:38PM #1

Talk of France boycotting them, should we? Human rights abuses etc? Should we not politicise sport?

Would the Chinese then pull out of Ireland with their takeaways in an attempt to get us back?

aidan_walsh · 26-03-2008 01:39PM

Perhaps, but should we boycott the search function?

Mossy Monk · 26-03-2008 01:42PM

Lots of people seem to have boycotted it.

zenith · 26-03-2008 01:42PM

Yes, we should. 800 years of misery, and all that.

It's only logical, if 'unauthorised occupation of another nation's territory', combined with repression, gets you het up.

Oh, you meant Bejing.

26-03-2008 01:44PM

I think we'd be saving ourselves the humiliation if we did.

whiskeyman · 26-03-2008 01:47PM

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

Should we not politicise sport?

Too late...

CantGetNoSleep · 26-03-2008 01:49PM

Deleted User wrote: »

I think we'd be saving ourselves the humiliation if we did.

We could have another few days of Sonia-fever if she qualify's though?
Before her inevitable dose of the scuts

Winters · 26-03-2008 02:06PM

If the Olympic Council of Ireland can scrounge together enough to send people who have spent the past god knows how long training to send people. Fantastic.

Boycotting the Olympics does absoluting nothing. Most people dont seem to give much of a shiit about it anymore anyway unless we win a medal.

Al_Fernz · 26-03-2008 02:06PM

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

Talk of France boycotting them, should we? Human rights abuses etc? Should we not politicise sport?

Would the Chinese then pull out of Ireland with their takeaways in an attempt to get us back?

If countries start to boycott it then your going to stamp on the dreams of many atheletes that have spent their whole lives training for this moment of their lives. IMO its too late to pull out.

Dinter · 26-03-2008 02:17PM

Actually talking about pointless political statements devoid of consequences, Dublin refused to be twinned with Beijing because of China's human rights record.

18AD · 26-03-2008 02:19PM

If they have little in the way of human rights I think we should definately take sport away from them too.
If they can't run a country like we do, then they shouldn't be allowed run a race either.

CantGetNoSleep · 26-03-2008 02:26PM

Al_Fernz wrote: »

If countries start to boycott it then your going to stamp on the dreams of many atheletes that have spent their whole lives training for this moment of their lives. IMO its too late to pull out.

But is taking their dream away from them too much of a price to pay if the result of taking away that dream is people being given the right to hold a protest in China highlighting their treatment

Dinter · 26-03-2008 02:30PM

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

But is taking their dream away from them too much of a price to pay if the result of taking away that dream is people being given the right to hold a protest in China highlighting their treatment

I don't see how boycotting them will help anyone at all.

Ffs the Olympics are meant to be apolitical.

Al_Fernz · 26-03-2008 02:45PM

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

But is taking their dream away from them too much of a price to pay if the result of taking away that dream is people being given the right to hold a protest in China highlighting their treatment

Who says that boycotting the games would allow people to hold protests in China? Its not fair to ask atheletes to boycott the games for the reasons I stated before.

However, I do agree that China should never have been awarded the games in the first place.

Kev_ps3 · 26-03-2008 03:28PM

All this boycott nonsence is all a smoke-screen lads if ye havent realised. This Oylmpics is seen as a showpeace for the new China, the China that has hopes of becoming a superpower, even overtaking the US.
People in the west dont like this so we have all this boycott crap. Its pretty simple stuff.

Dinter · 26-03-2008 03:38PM

Kev_ps3 wrote: »

All this boycott nonsence is all a smoke-screen lads if ye havent realised. This Oylmpics is seen as a showpeace for the new China, the China that has hopes of becoming a superpower, even overtaking the US.
People in the west dont like this so we have all this boycott crap. Its pretty simple stuff.

No I think it's more about the lengths that China is willing to go to to become a superpower that annoy people.

Pherekydes · 26-03-2008 05:11PM

Listen, we didn't even boycott the '48 Olympics, so we're not really going to have much to say about the Tibetans, are we?

thelordofcheese · 26-03-2008 06:28PM

Dinter wrote: »

Ffs the Olympics are meant to be apolitical.

This.

The Olympics are supposed to about the athletes and pure sporting competition, not whatever cause the rent-a-mob have decided to take up today. I call male bovine feces on this boycott.

dlofnep · 26-03-2008 07:13PM

It's a tough one to call. Boycotting shows China that the world will not tolerate their appalling treatment of people. On the other hand, you have alot of athletes who have trained their entires lifes for the olympics.. And the peak of their career might be very narrow, maybe 3-4 years.

Do we try to defend the people China have oppressed, or support the people who have trained their entire lifes for one goal? Hmm...

Guy:Incognito · 26-03-2008 08:03PM

Deleted User wrote: »

I think we'd be saving ourselves the humiliation if we did.

Not nessicarily. If enough countries pull ut we might be guarenteed a few medals.

CrazyTalk · 26-03-2008 08:06PM

Those athletes can work in Spar for all I care.
Boycott ftw

Overheal · 26-03-2008 08:09PM

Winters wrote: »

If the Olympic Council of Ireland can scrounge together enough to send people who have spent the past god knows how long training to send people. Fantastic.

Boycotting the Olympics does absoluting nothing. Most people dont seem to give much of a shiit about it anymore anyway unless we win a medal.

So decades of Irish Neutrality is down to not giving a ****? splendid.

Glenbhoy · 26-03-2008 08:16PM

I don't see that we have anything to gain by going, I say definitely boycott them, China has got way too easy a ride for way too long. Hopefully, we'll be joined by others and then we can all have our little mini-olympics in Dublin or somewhere.

Glenbhoy · 26-03-2008 08:17PM

Overheal wrote: »

So decades of Irish Neutrality is down to not giving a ****? splendid.

No, it's down to knowing our limitations.

Overheal · 26-03-2008 09:27PM

Glenbhoy wrote: »

No, it's down to knowing our limitations.

I never said lets invade china but youre saying oh were Ireland lets not Not Attend Something because we are too limited???

Blisterman · 26-03-2008 11:22PM

Having just got back from China, I must say that it's a scary place. I didn't even know about the unrest in tibet, for several days, as all the newspapers are censored by the government.

Tianemmen Square was shut down as a result of the protests, and had soldiers marching with guns all around it.

They have TVs in public places with images of the chinese army marching and looking glorious interspersed with the president of china giving speeches.
And hundreds of people stop what they;re doing, to watch the TVs. It's like something out of 1984.

That's not fogetting the amount that they venerate Chairman Mao, a man who killed more people than Hitler.

Glenbhoy · 26-03-2008 11:51PM

Overheal wrote: »

I never said lets invade china but youre saying oh were Ireland lets not Not Attend Something because we are too limited???

Nope, I was saying that we were neutral because it serves tiny poor countries better to be neutral (or at least it did back then, when our only option was tobe bailed out by the brits whose shackles we'd just broke free from).

I was saying we shouldn't go to the olympics because we're crap at minority sports (even rugby now too), interest in the event is dwindling away anyway and I don't think China should have been awarded the event in the first place. It's totally hypocritical to treat China as a normal society whilst invading Iraq 'to restore democracy'.

(On re-reading, you're probably right, I did sort of say we shouldn't attend the olympics because we are too limited, my apologies)

26-03-2008 11:58PM

Why do people want to treat the Olympics as a political football to further their own agendas? Yes, human rights in the PRC needs to be addressed, but why trash the Olympics and the lives of athletes around the world who may never get another chance to compete in the Olympics? Let sports be for sports sake, and keep bloody politics out!

Corkgirl21 · 27-03-2008 12:57AM

Does standing up for Human Rights really count as "politics"? Surely it's more of an ethical decision than a political one? By sending a team and competing we are saying we are turning a blind eye to human rights violations.

People use politics like a dirty word when it serves their purpose.

I do think that boycotting the opening ceremony is a good start. I know it would be a disappointment to athletes but I'm sure they would have an appreciation of the reasoning behind such a move.

KnifeWRENCH · 27-03-2008 01:06AM

In all fairness, if we boycott do you think the Chinese will care??
Ireland is a small country that doesn't hold much influence, neither in politics nor in sport. (And it is imperative that these be clearly seen as separate entities : the Olympics is NOT about politics)
If America, Russia or the African nations that typically win a lot of medals boycott, then the Chinese might start noticing. But Ireland withdrawing would not make a blind bit of difference. So with that in mind, we should send our athletes and hopefully win something for a change!!

Glenbhoy · 27-03-2008 02:07AM

square_igloo wrote: »

In all fairness, if we boycott do you think the Chinese will care??
Ireland is a small country that doesn't hold much influence, neither in politics nor in sport. (And it is imperative that these be clearly seen as separate entities : the Olympics is NOT about politics)
If America, Russia or the African nations that typically win a lot of medals boycott, then the Chinese might start noticing. But Ireland withdrawing would not make a blind bit of difference. So with that in mind, we should send our athletes and hopefully win something for a change!!

But if we send our athletes, they'll not notice either, at least by pulling them out it leaves them able to tell their grandchildren "I coulda been a contender...":)

As for keeping politics out of sports:):):):):):):)

Should we boycott the Olympics?

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