The Beijing Winter Games and the silence of the sponsors

These Winter Olympics in Beijing are treacherous to big funders, who try to keep quiet about the history of human rights abuse of China and safeguard the US $ 1 billion they have disbursed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

This figure could reach $ 2 billion this year. Sponsors include prestigious brands such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Visa, Toyota, Airbnb and Panasonic.

The most important sponsors of the IOC have been between a rock and a hard place due to the diplomatic boycott led by the United States, and the economic power that China represents with a population of 1.4 billion and the threat of retaliation from the government of Beijing.

China, for its part, participated in a total boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

“The sponsors try to move in a narrow margin, to achieve maximum exposure, but also not to be seen as very close to the actions of the Chinese government,” Mark Conrad, professor of sports law and ethics at the School of Sports, commented by email. Gabelli Business Administration from Fordham University.

The IOC fueled the tension by returning to a country where human rights abuses were documented before the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Human rights violations perpetrated against Muslim Uighurs and other minorities conflict with the principles of the Olympic Charter.

The document states that “sport is at the service of the harmonious progress of humanity, with the aim of promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.”

The Associated Press contacted most of the Olympic sponsors, but there was virtually only silence regarding their plans or they commented that the focus was on the athletes. One sponsor who did respond, the financial services company Allianz, said it was “in constant contact with the IOC” and supported the ideals of the Games.

A person in contact with the sponsors, who was not authorized to speak and asked not to be identified, pointed out that the general attitude, especially for those who focus outside the China market, aims to not mention Beijing and operate with great caution.

“It doesn’t surprise me that the sponsors are keeping quiet,” said Dae Hee Kawk, director of the University of Michigan Center for Sports Marketing. “They could potentially lose business.”

They are concerned about possible retaliation. The NBA experienced it firsthand in 2019 when then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supported pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong on Twitter.

Last month, Olympic sponsor Intel apologized after posting a letter on its website asking its suppliers to avoid supplies from the Xinjiang region, China.

Sponsors tend to saturate with advertising in the months leading up to an Olympic event. Activity has been less as the pandemic has caused the lucrative hospitality packages to be canceled.

“The sponsors’ silence is deafening, more than any statement,” wrote Conrad, the Fordham professor.

The Olympic Games will later be held in summer in Paris, followed by Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, in Winter and Los Angeles. The IOC also announced Brisbane in Australia for Summer 2032 and Sapporo, Japan, is a contender for the 2030 Winter Olympics.

IOC President Thomas Bach has insisted that the Olympics must be “politically neutral.” But they are not usually. Four years ago, during the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Bach promoted talks between the two Koreas.

Last year, the United Nations General Assembly passed the Olympic Truce Resolution with a consensus of 193 member states, of which 173 co-sponsored the resolution.

Bach has declined to condemn the alleged genocide or refer to human rights in China. He seldom mentions the Uyghurs by name.

“We are fully focused on the athletes,” Bach said. “We offer that they can participate, that they have the support of their national governments. The rest is politics ”.