Cuban Olympic Committee regrets boycott to Winter Games in Beijing 2022

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 10 (ACN) The Cuban Olympic Committee (COC) regretted today the boycott to the Winter Olympics based in Beijing, China, next year, for strictly political reasons that have nothing to do with the sport.

In a letter published on the sports publication JIT, the COC regrets the decision of several Western countries not to send diplomatic personnel to the meeting, which only affects their own delegations and the spirit of brotherhood and fellowship of the event.

The Olympic movement was able to overcome similar events in the relatively recent past, lessons that should serve us to preserve the message of peace and the supreme objectives of the Olympic Gamees, as well as the Olympic values, the statement read.

It also recalls the success of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and highlights the efforts made by the Chinese in organizing the upcoming games, especially in times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even when Cuba does not participate in this event, the COC expresses that it hopes the success of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and also that the use of sporting contests as platforms for denunciation and pressure for political aspects will cease once and for all.

Finally, that entity expresses its confidence in the role of the International Olympic Committee in this regard, and in the value of the recent debates on the way in which the Olympism should address, inside and outside the games, matters related to the social and political environment in which it takes place.