Syrian athletes and the 2012 Summer Games

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, or the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are slated to take place in London, England from the 27^th of July to the 12^th of August.

While the situation in Syria (13,000 dead and counting) continues to whirlpool into a situation that can only be defined as civil war, it seems appropriate to president Bashar al-Assad to be represented at the games by Syrian athletes loyal to his regime, and some that are not.

“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said last month that Syrian athletes would compete in London in July, despite the violence raging in their country.” reads a report by MSNBC.

The following statements are from MSNBC too. Read:

Sir Menzies Campbell speaks of Assad himself:

It would be totally against the spirit of the Olympic games if that man was allowed into Britain to attend the Games

Apropos, Assad is banned from entering England.

Abdelbasset Saroot, the former Syrian soccer team’s goalie takes the side of the rebellion, known as the Free Syrian Army: He refers to the athletes attending:

…they don’t want to play for a flag that they have no pride or faith in…I personally know the majority of the athletes don’t want to take part and they are only going (out of) fear (for) their families – the regime repercussions if they don’t comply…My message as a footballer, athlete and activist first of all is that we are seeing a real massacre here and the world isn’t speaking except of numbers and death tolls…These are real people, this is a massacre because people are being butchered, people in the world have forgotten about the humanitarian crisis – houses are being demolished

British Prime Minister David Cameron said that Syrian athletes will certainly be permitted entrance into the UK to participate, according to the same report.

Something smart to ask:

While the country’s rebels such as, Abdelbasset Saroot, are busy making war with the Alawite-helmed Socialist Ba’ath dynasty, what does the Assad camp have to say about it?

Check out the following from the BBC:

Mowaffak Joma, the chairperson of the Syrian Olympic committee, said the Olympic charter forbids host countries from banning athletes…the authority of any host country is limited to organising and offering all necessary facilities to all participating athletes…If the British government has decided to ban anyone connected to the regime and to President Bashar-al Assad, I am telling you in advance they should ban all Syrian citizens, because we all support President Assad and support Syria

Mowaffak Joma is being banned along with Assad…