Right to Play Banned by International Olympic Committee

Trivia: “Which of the following is true about playing from a waste bunker? A) You can ground your club. B) You can remove loose impediments. C) You must rake it entirely after playing from it. D) Both A and B.” Answer below.

Our cause and partner, Right to Play, has traditionally leveraged the Olympic Games as a fantastic platform from which to spread its message. Unfortunately, for reasons not yet known, The Globe and Mail reported on Wednesday that the International Olympic Committee has now banned Right to Play from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games and all future Olympics. You can find the article here. It is also included below.

At Parmasters KW, and every Parmasters center, we donate one dollar from every paid golf lesson to Right to Play.

We will endeavour to follow this story as it unfolds.

You can see a brief Right to Play video/television commercial here. (WARNING: This video is rather graphic at the beginning.)


Right to Play not welcomed at Olympic Games any more: IOC

JIM MORRIS
The Canadian Press
January 21, 2009 at 5:35 PM EST

The international humanitarian organization Right to Play has been told by the International Olympic Committee it is not welcomed at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, or future Olympics.

Johann Koss, president and chief executive officer for Right to Play, learned of the IOC's decision in a Dec. 23 letter.

“My understanding of this letter is we cannot be involved in any of the Olympic venues or the Olympic village,” Mr. Koss told The Canadian Press in an interview from Toronto.

The ban will continue for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

“My understanding, based on this letter, is we are excluded from future Olympics as well,” said Mr. Koss, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in speed skating.

The IOC gave no reason for the ban.

“The letter does not explain why they no longer will work with us,” Mr. Koss said. “It started with a VANOC issue and it has escalated to the IOC.”

An e-mail sent to the IOC was not immediately answered.

Mr. Koss isn't sure if the ban prevents him from entering the village or other Olympic venues in Vancouver.

“Personally, I have no issues if they exclude me or not,” he said. “If that is their decision, I don't really worry about that.

“I do worry that the athletes will not have the opportunity to be exposed to what they can do as role models in this world to create a better world.”

Right to Play uses sport and play programs to improve health, develop life skills and foster peace for children and communities in some of the world's most disadvantaged areas. The group's headquarters is located in Toronto and it works in 23 countries.

The list of athletes supporting the program include swimmers Janet Evans of the U.S. and Ian Thorpe of Australia, German speed skater Anni Friesinger, Swedish skier Anja Paerson and NHL star Alexander Ovechkin.

Canadians include such Olympic medalists as Jennifer Heil, Clara Hughes, Brad Gushue and Adam van Koeverden, plus NHL players like Joe Thornton and Robyn Regehr.

Right to Play began as a group called Olympic Aid at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway. It has set up in Olympic athlete villages since the 2000 Sydney Games.

In October, the Vancouver Olympic Games Organizing Committee said Right to Play would not be allowed in the 2010 athletes village because its sponsors are not the same as those for the Vancouver Olympics.

Mr. Koss said his organization tried to reach a compromise.

“After the initial discussion with VANOC and the IOC, we did present to them a way where we could work together,” he said. “I did not get a response from that. That was five months ago.

“Since then we had not heard anything before I received this letter.”

The situation has left Mr. Koss disappointed.

“We had such a successful partnership in Beijing in the athletes village,” he said. “When it started with the problems Vancouver was presenting in the fall, I'm not surprised this is the situation now.”

Even with the ban, Right to Play plans on being in Vancouver.

“We will be there and have a presence, just not an official presence with the IOC or with the Olympic organizing committee,” Mr. Koss said.

He doesn't know if not being allowed in the Olympic village will hurt the organization's ability to recruit more athletes.

“I hope not,” Mr. Koss said. “We have a large number of athletes who are supporting Right to Play.

“They are themselves engaged in recruiting other athletes.”

The IOC's website says one of the goals of the Olympic movement is to build a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination of any kind.

Mr. Koss hesitated when asked if by banning Right to Play, the IOC was violating its own goals.

“I don't want to comment necessarily on the IOC's decision,” he said. “We have grown out of the Olympic organizing committee and the Olympic movement.

“This is our history and this is where we belong. I don't want to speculate on the issue and the decision made by the IOC.”


And the answer: “D) Both A and B are correct.”