BRITAIN:The British Olympic Association (BOA) is to review its athletes' contract for the Beijing Games after criticism of a clause which prevented competitors from making political statements in China.
The clause, which appeared to go beyond the requirements of the Olympic charter, will be softened, although athletes who engage in overt political demonstrations or statements could still risk being sent home.
The athlete agreements of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) do not specifically forbid criticism of the host nation.
Like the UK and other competing nations, the OCI has drawn up a team member agreement, and also an agreement for the selection of athletes.
According to OCI press officer Jack McGouran, these agreements do not contain anything specific to China, nor are there any plans to amend them.
"Our athlete agreements have already been decided, and we won't be adding anything more to them," said Mr McGouran.
"While we do follow the International Olympic Committee charter, we don't have [a charter] as specific as that, as in something specific to China . . . But the Olympic Council of Ireland holds the view that sport and politics don't mix."
Simon Clegg, the BOA's chief executive, said: "I accept that the interpretation of one part of the draft BOA team members' agreement appears to have gone beyond the provision of the Olympic charter. This is not our intention, nor is it our desire to restrict athletes' freedom of speech, and the final agreement will reflect this."
The BOA contract for Beijing contains a new clause preventing athletes from commenting "on any politically-sensitive issues" as a condition of their membership of the British team.
The clause appears to go further than the requirements of the Olympic charter to which athletes are subject. This requires competitors to refrain from "any kind of demonstration or . . . political, religious or racial propaganda at Olympic sites".
The BOA said the clause had been included for the first time because of the political sensitivities about China's hosting of the games, but said it was not intended to inhibit free speech.