Re: Clijsters out of Olympics

<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> (Steve Jaros) wrote:
>
> >
> > I'm no Clijsters fan but the issue seems clear - if the olympic
> > committee
> > insists that she wear *anything* commercially-related that she doesn't
> > want
> > to wear, they are in the wrong, not her.
>
> It's not simply the BOIC. It's a *contract* they have with Adidas -- which
> provides funding for the other top Beligan athletes in sports with less
> funding to go to the Olympics at all.

If the BOIC signed such a contract, then of course it is "simply the BOIC".
They signed the contract - no one forced them to.

IMO, the olympics should be about bringing together the very best athletes
in the world in fair competition. No political or economic  factors should
be allowed to bias that. When it comes to team membership the only thing
should matter is athletic skill as demonstrated through a fair qualifying
process.

Kim is clearly one of the two best Belgian women tennis players. That alone
should be enough to get her on the team. If the BOIC doesn't let her play
for economic reasons, that's no different than back in the days of the USSR
when an athlete might not be able to compete because the authorities didn't
consider him to be a "good communist"...

-- 
"if federal judges have the final word over its meaning,
the Constitution would be a mere thing of wax in the hands
of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form
they please".

- Thomas Jefferson