Syrian Olympic chief barred from Britain for Olympics

Peter Macdiarmid

(AP) LONDON - An official involved in the Olympic movement said Friday that Britain has refused to grant a visa to Syrian Olympic Committee chief Gen. Mowaffak Joumaa to attend the London Games.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the decision publicly, confirmed that Joumaa has been barred over his links to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

Britain's Home Office, which decides on visa applications, declined to confirm details, insisting it would not comment on individual cases.

Diplomats from the country's Foreign Ministry and staff from the sport and culture ministry are also involved in considering sensitive visa applications ahead of the Summer Games, though the final decision rests with Home Secretary Theresa May.

British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg had said last month that Syrian delegation members with connections to the Assad regime would be banned.

In April, Joumaa told The Associated Press that he would regard it as an "honor" to be blacklisted from Britain because of his links to Assad. "Once I am blacklisted, it would be an honor for me to be one of the citizens who were banned from entering Britain because of their country's dignity and freedom," Joumaa said.

The rejection of Joumaa's visa was first reported by the BBC.

About 10 athletes are due to compete at the Olympics from Syria, where a 15-month-old uprising and government crackdown have killed thousands.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged that athletes won't be punished "for the sins of the regime."

[Molly-Pchr]

Love those Brits!

[Epicur]

This is egregiously in violation of the Olympic spirit. The Games grant free travel even to warring factions during the Olympiad. The Olympic Truce is a sacred tradition originating from Ancient Greece that dates back to the 8th century BC. The Northern Barbarians are such savages.

[skunk_monkey]

the modern Olympics are not based on the ancient Greek games, they are based on games that happened across Britain in the 1800s.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/features/2004/08/william_penny_brookes.shtml

[K. Daraa]

So now olympic host nations are politicizing attendance? Wrong move, and the end state, does not justify the means. This is situational ethics, and will open pandora's box for the future of the olympics. It is one thing for a country to choose to boycott participation in the olympics and it is another to ban people from attendance because the host nation government has sided with the other side in a civil war in the prospective visitor's country. It demonstrates a smallness or pettiness of character in leadership, not strength of character or ethics. Next time around what will the UK do that the host nation may take offense to, banning British leaders? But of course, xenophobia will kick in, and all of the people of the UK will cry and whine until the host nation gives in, even though the British government is setting this precedent NOW, at THIS Olympics. Don't take pride in this, it is a shame and you know it.