IOC Passes Resolution to Penalize Boycotters

The International Olympic Committee’s executive board unanimously passed a resolution Sunday recommending that countries boycotting future Summer Olympics lose their shares of television revenues.

Careful not to leave the impression that the executive board’s action was significant, IOC spokesperson Michelle Verdier said the measure should not be interpreted as a sanction.

“There is no anger,” she said. “This is the only feeling the IOC can have, to regret that some athletes are barred from taking part in the Games by their national Olympic committees.”

Verdier estimated that the measure, if adopted by the entire body of IOC members in meetings here this week, would cost each of the six countries that have not accepted invitations to this summer’s Olympics in Seoul, South Korea about $6,000.

Of 167 nations, only North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua and Ethiopia have announced they will not attend. There has been no response from Albania and the Seychelles.

Verdier said there is a chance Cuba and Ethiopia will reconsider if North Korea can be satisfied in its demands to play a host role in the Games, which are scheduled for Sept. 17-Oct. 2. The IOC has offered North Korea five events--table tennis, archery, women’s volleyball, a 100-kilometer cycling race and women’s volleyball--but has received no response.

“There is no deadline fixed for resolving this issue,” she said. The executive board’s resolution left open the possibility of stiffer penalties against countries that accept invitations to the Summer Games and later withdraw.

Verdier said a record 57 countries will attend the Winter Games, which begin here Saturday. Panama was eliminated when its only athlete, a skier, was ruled ineligible because the country does not have a ski federation representative.