Boycott fear for Olympics over Bhopal firm tie-in

A BOYCOTT could be looming over the London 2012 Olympics.

Fears of a possible pull-out by Indian athletes have been growing in protest at the International Olympic Committee’s sponsorship deal with Dow Chemical Company and the firm’s connection to the 1984 Bhopal disaster – one of the world’s worst industrial incidents.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it would oppose a boycott amid reports that athletes have called on the Indian Olympic Association to pull out of the Games. Suggestions of a boycott are “not accurate”, the IOC said.

Shivraj Singh Chauhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, where Bhopal is located, asked sports minister Ajay Maken to boycott the Olympics.

In a letter, he said it was not appropriate for a firm linked to such a tragedy to be allowed to sponsor an event “considered as an ultimate expression of fair play, honesty and healthy endeavour”.

Concerns have also been raised by 21 Indian Olympic athletes who earlier this month urged London 2012 to end Dow’s sponsorship of a curtain-style wrap of the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London.

An IOC spokesman said: “We understand from the [Indian] National Olympic Committee that they would of course be willing to discuss any concerns with their athletes.

He added: “The IOC would of course oppose a boycott, as ultimately the only people hurt by actions like these would be the athletes themselves.”

Up to 15,000 people died and tens of thousands were maimed when poisonous gas leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal in central India in 1984.