The Argentine Olympic Committee has responded officially for the first time to an advertisement on state-run TV that links a dispute with Britain about the Falkland Islands to the London Games.
Olympic committee president Gerardo Werthein said in a statement Tuesday that using the games as a platform for “political gestures” is not acceptable but defended the right to freedom of speech for his athletes.
The IOC denounced the ad last week, saying the Olympics should “not be a forum” for political issues.
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“The Argentine National Olympic Committee is fully committed to the Olympic Charter and the best practices of the Olympic Movement,” the statement said. “We strongly believe the Olympic Games are not a platform for politics and we have communicated this position to the International Olympic Committee.
“We, of course, defend an individual’s right to freedom of speech but this cannot interfere with the sporting performance of our team at the forthcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. Indeed, the Argentine NOC has made clear that using the Olympic Games to make political gestures of any kind is not acceptable and we will conduct ourselves in the proper spirit … in all that we do in London and elsewhere.”
The ad shows men’s field hockey captain Fernando Zylberberg training for the games by running through the islands’ capital of Stanley. In the background is a British pub and other national symbols. The ad says: “To compete on English soil, we train on Argentine soil.”
Any move to mix sports and politics is sure to upset the Switzerland-based International Olympic Committee.
Attempts four years ago to link the issue of Tibet and China’s human rights policies to the Beijing Games were opposed by the IOC and China’s authoritarian government.
Argentina President Cristina Fernandez and her government have used the issue of the Falklands – known in Argentina as Las Malvinas – to stir national pride and say they want Britain to hold talks about the sovereignty of the South Atlantic islands.
Britain has said the residents of the islands should have the last word. They have overwhelmingly said they want to remain British.
Fernandez defended the ad on Monday in giving her first statement on the issue.
“Some claim to be offended by an ad that reflects the feeling of Argentines,” Fernandez said. “There is nothing offensive about it. What is offensive is exploiting natural resources and not respecting the memory of the dead or the United Nations resolutions.”
Fernandez said Britain had “taken something (Falklands) that does not belong to them,” and now was attempting a coverup. She said this “is untenable in the 21st century – colonialism and sending destroyers to intimidate us. Nobody will make us deviate from our policies. But we are always open to dialogue.”
Fernandez praised the creativity of the ad, although the British advertising agency responsible – Young & Rubicam – said last week that its Argentine office created the clip, apologized, and asked for it to be pulled. Instead, it is still been aired on state-run TV.
Martin Mercado, the creative managing director of Young & Rubicam in Argentina, said the ad was designed for home consumption.
“It was a message for the country, for Argentines,” Mercado said. “It was not for the outside.”
