Olympic Newsdesk - Rogge Addresses Dow, Havelange Controversies

Rogge Talks Dow, Havelange Controversies

IOC president Jacques Rogge says calls to boycott the London Olympics over Dow Chemical’s sponsorship hurt Indian sports.

Indian athletes and Olympic leaders as well as some activists elsewhere have argued for a boycott of the 2012 Games over the corporate giant’s link to an industrial disaster in Bhopal, India.

The Indian Olympic Association announced last week the NOC does not plan to boycott, and Reuters now quotes Rogge as saying the IOA should talk with its athletes about the ongoing controversy.

"We have advised the IOA to enter into a dialogue with their athletes and this is what they will do. I would hope the interest of sport and interest of the athletes will prevail," he told the British news agency.

"Every measure calling for a boycott is a measure that is hurting Indian sport and I am glad to say that there is no intention at the level of the IOA to consider such actions."

In 1984, a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide India Limited spewed toxins into Bhopal, killing thousands.

While Dow did not own or operate the plant at the time, the Midland, Michigan-based firm in 2001 bought Union Carbide, which owned more than half of the stocks of the responsible company.

Dow’s Olympic partnership, signed last year, has since come under fire from activists and survivors who say the sponsor should be responsible for compensating Bhopal disaster victims.

The IOC president denied Dow’s involvement in the incident.

"Definitely we respect a lot the emotion in India because this is a horrific catastrophe," Rogge told Reuters.

"While we totally understand the emotions and the grief one has to say that Dow Chemical was not involved in the Bhopal issue."

Also Tuesday, Rogge told Reuters the ethics investigation into Joao Havelange of Brazil, dean of the IOC after48 years of membership, is officially closed following receipt of his letter of resignation.

"For me the resignation is one based onhealth and age," he added, refusing to speculate on the proximity of the resignation to this week’s Executive Board meetings in Lausanne.

Havelange, 95, faced possible expulsion from his lifetime IOC seat over a charge that he received a $1 million kickback from ISL, the former marketing agency for FIFA, in 1987 when he headed the international federation.

Wulff to DOSB: "You Can Rely on Me"

The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) canexpect unwavering government support – but never interference – says Federal President Christian Wulff.

The head of state attended the DOSB General Assembly over the weekend in Berlin, where he emphasized the important role sport can play in today’s society.

"You render outstanding services to our – to your – country," he told NOC and national governing body delegates.

"You can rely on me."

He also stressed the autonomy of German sports.

"You have the great responsibility to keep developing the values of sport," he said.

"You have to make sure that sport is not abused, neither by political nor by economical interests."

Wulff, who traveled to Durban for this year’s IOC Session in support of Munich’s failed bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, later received the DOSB Medal of Honor from NOC president Thomas Bach.

USOC Talks Anti-Ambush Marketing

The United States Olympic Committee expects to educate Congress later Wednesday about the negative ramifications of ambush marketing.

Inside the Capitol Building in Washington D.C., a USOC panel will address the threats facing brand managers and corporate sponsors ahead of the London 2012 Olympics.

The discussion will include USOC chief marketing officer Lisa Baird and associate general counsel Kelly Maser as well as executives from McDonald’s, Visa, AT&T and Kellogg.

Two-time Olympic swimming champion Donna de Varona will moderate.

Written and reported by Ann Cantrell.