Two US lawmakers announced Thursday a planned bill to be put before Congress that says Russia should be stripped of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games for sending troops into neighbouring Georgia, reports AFP.
Two representatives will ask that Congress push the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to pull the Winter Games from Russia and designate a new host city for the event.
Representative Bill Shuster said, “Russia’s belligerence against the people of Georgia and their democratically elected government cannot go unpunished”.
AFP reports the planned resolution called for the IOC to “move immediately to designate a new host city for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The failure of the government of the Russian Federation to respect the sovereignty and territorial borders of its neighbours has rendered the country an unacceptable host for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games”.
Rachel Magnuson, a spokeswoman for representative Allyson Schwartz, told AFP that the legislation would not be introduced to the full Congress until the first week of September when lawmakers return from summer recess. She said, “they are announcing it today in order to draw attention to it over the next few weeks”.
Dmitry Chernyshenko, chief executive and president of Sochi 2014, issued a statement to AFP at the Beijing Games which he is attending saying that it was for the IOC to pass comment and not him or his team. He said, “whilst we are aware of the story regarding the intended resolution by US congressmen, only the IOC can respond on such matters. They have sole and independent responsibility for all matters concerning the location and hosting of the Olympic Winter Games.
“What I can tell you is that we have been in constant close contact with the IOC in preparation for the Games in 2014 – some six years away. All our efforts here in China are spent on learning from these wonderful Beijing Games so that we can enhance our offering for the Olympic Movement. At Sochi 2014 our focus is to deliver an excellent and innovative Games that will inspire the world. We are on track to achieve this”.
