“My disappointment is with the IOC for really putting their head in the sand and not wanting to make any waves... I think the IOC needs to stand up better for their athletes,” says Martina Navratilova . PHOTO: AFP/FILE
The openly gay former tennis star, speaking at the United Nations in New York, also took a swipe at Qatar, hosts of the football World Cup in 2022.
But she was most animated about what she sees as the IOC inaction ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia, a country which has courted criticism for legislation that critics say discriminates against civil liberties.
“My disappointment is with the IOC for really putting their head in the sand and not wanting to make any waves... I think the IOC needs to stand up better for their athletes.”
“I have never supported boycott (of Sochi) because the athletes would be the only ones that will suffer,” she told a press conference, adding, “Nobody gains by that.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2013.
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