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Concerns and controversies at the 2012 Summer Olympics

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In addition to the budget, ticketing, security and logo, there were several controversies and gaffes at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Issues included sponsorship, housing, social media and political issues such as the Falkland Islands dispute and the Bahraini uprising.

Olympic rings
Part of a series on
2012 Summer Olympics

Sponsorship issues

Brand protection

The protection of the Olympic brand has been the subject of some criticism. The Olympic rings themselves are protected under the Olympic Symbol etc. (Protection) Act 1995, and under provisions set out by the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006, LOCOG are empowered to prevent the misuse of Olympic branding leading up to the 2012 games. The acts aim to prevent unauthorised commercial association with the games by traders (such as using the Olympic rings in a shop window) and to prevent attempts at ambush marketing at games events, but the constraints detailed in the guidelines issued by LOCOG have been criticised by some commentators as a form of censorship.

The guidelines specify a range of trademarked logos and designs as well as certain "Listed Expressions" and "protected words" that advertisers may not use, which include the words "London" and "2012". Even if an advertiser does not mention the Olympics or use any of the listed words, any visual or audio respresentation of London and sports may be considered by a court to be an infringement of LOCOG's rights and subject to a fine of £20,000 or possible imprisonment. A number of individuals and businesses have fallen foul of the restrictions including a lingerie shop in Leicester, a grandmother knitting for charity and a Plymouth café selling Olympic torch baguettes.

In an interview with BBC journalist Evan Davis, Lord Coe emphasised the need to protect the rights of official sponsors who had contributed large amounts of money to the Games. His suggestion that visitors to the London games would not be admitted if they were wearing a Pepsi-branded T-shirt was later retracted by LOCOG, who stated that such rules would apply only to large groups of spectators wearing "visibly branded" clothing.

Food and drink

There has been criticism that companies that produce 'junk food' or otherwise unhealthy food and drink – notably McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Cadbury and Heineken – are major sponsors of the Olympics, in conflict with the Olympics' ideal of healthiness. Critics have included the Chief Medical Officer of Wales, Dr Tony Jewell, and the head of sports science of the GB Team. The London Assembly passed a motion calling for a ban on junk-food sponsors.

Criticism has also focused on the exclusive rights held by some sponsors to serve and advertise food at and near to Olympic venues. McDonald's hold sole rights to sell chips throughout the games, preventing independent food outlets from serving chips with any meal, although an exception was negotiated with McDonald's to allow the sale of traditional British fish and chips. Food sellers must also comply with food outlet specifications which require prominent display of Coca-Cola branding with limited space for their own products. Locog's policy for food provision states a number of aims including diversity, hygiene, health and nutrition and sustainability.

The sponsors were defended on the grounds that they provide a significant income for the event. Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC, acknowledged concerns but noted the importance of sponsorship money and said that the issue of obesity had been raised with such sponsors. McDonald's and Coca-Cola also defended their involvement, stating that healthy eating was down to the responsibility of the individual to make their own purchasing choices.

Dow Chemical's sponsorship

The IOC and LOCOG have drawn criticism for accepting Dow Chemical Company as a partner for the London Games. Human Rights activists have been campaigning to get Dow Chemicals to clean up the contamination in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, where gas leak at a Union Carbide plant in 1984 killed 2,259 people. In an email response in March 2012, LOCOG refused to withdraw Dow as a sponsor and stated "Dow is an industry leader in terms of operating with the highest standards of ethics and sustainability... has received several awards and accolades in this regard over the last few years." Dow said it was surprised by the controversy because Dow never had a plant in Bhopal, and did not acquire any of the connection with Bhopal. Dow acquired Union Carbide in 2001, 12 years after Union Carbide had settled with the Government of India and Bhopal victims.

Housing

In February 2012, the housing charity Shelter alleged reports of landlords in east London raising rents or writing clauses into new rental contracts so tenants must be away during the Olympics, but as of 2 February 2012 the Department of Communities and Local Government said it had no evidence of the practice. However, an 8 May news report by the BBC noted that Shelter had seen "more evidence of landlords acting unscrupulously and evicting people illegally. One estate agent said properties typically rented for £350 per week were being marketed for £6,000 per week." The BBC report noted that, "The potential profits are leading to some private landlords telling their tenants they have to leave their homes, with little notice."

Campaign to ban Prince Nasser of Bahrain

In June 2012, the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) urged British authorities to ban the president of the Bahrain Olympic Committee, Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa from entering the UK during the games. Prince Nasser, son of Bahrain's King Hamad and the commander of the Royal Guard has been accused of torture and human rights violations during the 2011-2012 Bahraini uprising. The ECCHR claimed that Prince Nasser launched "a punitive campaign to repress Bahraini athletes who had demonstrated their support (for) the peaceful pro-democracy movement". It said that, following his directive, "more than 150 professional athletes, coaches and referees were subjected to arbitrary arrests, night raids, detention, abuse and torture by electric cables and other means". The call to ban Prince Nasser from entering the UK was supported by global activist group Avaaz, and British Member of Parliament George Galloway, who warned that he would attempt to make a citizen's arrest of the prince if he comes to London.

IOC policy regarding social media

The IOC has drawn criticism from Sweden and Denmark for its social media guidelines, which, those commentators argue, appear to infringe athletes' right to free speech. The guidelines prohibit athletes from commenting on other participants, from posting pictures of other athletes without their permission, from promoting their own sponsors, and from using the Olympic rings. The IOC has also created a website intended to allow the reporting of suspected breaches of the guidelines.

Argentine Olympic advert

On 2 May 2012, in regards to the Falkland Island dispute, on the 30th anniversary of the sinking of the Argentine ship General Belgrano, Argentina released an advertising film depicting the captain of Argentina's hockey team, Fernando Zylberberg, training in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, under the slogan "To compete on British soil, we train on Argentine soil." The film was criticised by the UK Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, as "tasteless", while the IOC denounced the ad, saying "the games should not be part of a political platform." Following this criticism, Argentine Olympic Committee head Gerardo Werthein criticised the ad, stating that the Olympic Games cannot be used to make "political gestures". Zylberberg was subsequently dropped from the Argentine Hockey squad which will take part in the 2012 Games.

Minute of silence for Munich massacre victims

A campaign was launched by "volunteers at the Rockland County JCC in suburban New York" to urge the IOC to include a minute of silence during the Opening Ceremonies in memory of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered by Black September at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. U.S. President Barack Obama publicly supported the campaign, along with the United States Senate, the German Bundestag, members of the Canadian and Australian parliaments, about 50 MPs in the British Parliament and about 140 MPs in Italy's parliament. In rejecting the lobbying efforts for this occassion, Jacques Rogge noted that the IOC "has paid tribute to the memory of the athletes who tragically died in Munich in 1972 on several occasions and will continue to do so."

North Korea – South Korea flag mix-up

In the first day of the Olympic events on 25 July, during the women's football tournament the match between North Korea and Colombia was delayed by a little over an hour because the flag of South Korea was mistakenly displayed on the electronic scoreboard in Hampden Park. The North Korean team walked off the pitch in protest at seeing the South Korean flag displayed by their names and refused to warm-up whilst the flag was being displayed. They also objected to the South Korean flag being displayed above the stadium, although the flags of all the competing countries were being displayed. The game then commenced after a delay and rectification of the error.

This followed a response from the Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore:

"The Olympics is of huge importance and the fact Hampden will be front and centre as the world turns it attention to the U.K. is great news for Glasgow and Scotland as a whole. The Olympics is our chance to show the world what we are capable of as a nation and the hard work of people across the country is helping ensure the success of the games. I am looking forward to watching the game and hearing the first-ever Olympic roar at Hampden later today."

The the London Organising Committee (Locog) spokesman said afterwards:

"today ahead of the Women’s football match at Hampden Park, the South Korean flag was shown on a big screen video package instead of the North Korean flag. Clearly that is a mistake, we will apologise to the team and the National Olympic Committee and steps will be taken to ensure this does not happen again."

One week earlier, the Locog spokesperson Niccy Halifax had guaranteed that a flag mix-up gaffe would not occur, saying, "It just isn't going to happen. It's not. It's not."

See also

References

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