(THE BLAZE) – The International Olympic Committee announced Wednesday that its ban on athletes demonstrating in official venues will remain in place for this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, and reiterated that kneeling or raising a fist in protest will be grounds for punishment.
The IOC’s “Rule 50” states that “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” But the committee agreed to revisit the rule amid pressure after American athletes made it a commonplace occurrence to protest their own national anthem as a way to call for racial justice in the U.S.
In a report detailing the reasoning behind its decision to keep the rule, the IOC explained that over the past year it conducted a survey of more than 3,500 international athletes across the globe and found that “a clear majority of athletes believe that it is not appropriate for athletes to demonstrate or express their views” at the podium (67%), field of play (70%), or during the opening ceremony (70%).
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