104 replies to this topic

[jerseyboi]

The Indian Olympic Association has announced that they will be holding a vote next month on whether or not to boycott the London Olympic Games.

Former and current Indian athletes have asked the Indian Olympic Association to take the action on December 5, because they object to Dow Chemicals £7m sponsorship of the wrap around the Olympic Stadium.

The wrap - which will hide suppprting beams around the exterior of the stadium - needed a sponsor to cover its costs.

Dow Chemical owns Union Carbide, the company responsible for the Bhopal gas leak in 1984, one of the world's biggest ever environmental disasters.

The Indian government is still pursuing Dow for £1.1bn of compensation for the victims of the disasters. Union Carbide paid £300m pounds in compensation following the disaster and Dow claims that the matter is now settled.

They claim they never owned or operated the facility in Bhopal and only acquired shares of Union Carbide more than 16 years after the tragedy.

Barry Gardiner, MP said: “LOCOG cannot continue to ignore the risk that Dow poses to the Games. I urge Lord Coe to think of the athletes.

"They need to focus on preparing to give the performance of their lives.

"It is not fair to distract them or have them embroiled in a political dispute. LOCOG made a mistake in partnering with Dow.

"They must now accept that, end the relationship and lift this cloud from London 2012. They now have a deadline of ten days to do so."



http://news.sky.com/...rticle/16117546

[RobH]

If they boycott 2012 over a £7m deal with Dow, they'll have to boycott all Games up to and including 2020 to protest the IOC's £100m deal with them. And on that note, why didn't they start making a fuss in July 2010 when the big deal with the IOC was announced?

Edited by RobH, 25 November 2011 - 06:16 AM.

[jerseyboi]

Chouhan suggests London Olympics boycott over Dow sponsorship

The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has asked the federal government to lodge a strong protest against Dow Chemical Company’s sponsorship of the 2012 London Olympics, and suggested a boycott if the sponsorship continues, news reports said Thursday.

A gas leak at a Union Carbide Corporation plant in Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh state in 1984 led to the death of at least 3000 people. Union Carbide was taken over by Dow in 2001.

In a letter to federal Sports Minister Ajay Maken, Mr. Chouhan said it would not be appropriate that a company responsible for such a tragedy should be allowed to sponsor an event like the Olympics, which are expected to be an expression of fair play, the IANS news agency reported.

Mr. Chouhan said the liabilities related to the disaster had not been fully settled and were the subject of litigation.

The funds being spent by Dow on the Olympics could be put to better use by alleviating to some extent the misery suffered by the people of Bhopal, Mr. Chouhan’s letter said.

The Sports Ministry has not yet responded to the letter.

At least 25,000 people are still suffering from the effects of the gas leak in Bhopal, and there were high rates of congenital deformities and cancer among families who use the groundwater near the site of the plant, groups representing the victims say.

Five of these victims’ groups have also demanded Dow’s sponsorship deal be scrapped in a petition to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), saying it was offensive to the spirit of the Games.

At least 21 Indian Olympians have endorsed the petition urging the organizing committee to scrap the sponsorship deal with Dow.

Dow Chemical Company is one of the global sponsors of the London Olympics. It is also funding and making a decorative wrap for the Olympic stadium in East London.

Dow has said it is disappointed that some people were trying to blame them for the Bhopal tragedy and that it had never owned or operated the facility in Bhopal.

“Dow acquired the shares of Union Carbide Corporation more than 16 years after the tragedy, and 10 years after the 470 million dollar settlement agreement — paid by Union Carbide Corporation and Union Carbide India, Limited — was approved by the Indian Supreme Court,” the company said in an email to the Economic Times newspaper.


Keywords: 2012 London Olympics, Bhopal gas tragedy
http://www.thehindu....icle2656630.ece

[jerseyboi]

Article contains the letter

http://www.ndtv.com/...olympics-152604

[baron-pierreIV]

Gdo, what a boring story.

[bgdrewsif]

This is an absurd notion that Dow is responsible... they NEVER owned the Carbide plant, NEVER operated it, and did not even own shares in Union Carbide until 16 YEARS after the accident... do these Indian government officials and athletes seriously expect these actions to somehow yield a positive outcome for them?

[RobH]

It's annoying we now have three threads on this subject (the stadium thread, the Dow sponsorship thread, and now this one), because I've posted about the above point twice already!!

If Dow owns the company that was responsible and there are ongoing issues around the site (which campaigners claim there are with regard to drinking water and birth abnormalities), then the fact that they didn't own the plant at the time is irrelevent - surely they take on the ongoing responsibilities of the company they bought? As I've said before, I have some sympathy with those protesting. I wonder whether LOCOG really didn't see this coming, and would like to know how much influence the IOC TOP Sponsor deal with Dow had on LOCOG choosing them as the supplier for the wrap.

But what I don't get, as I said above, is why the campaigners, politicians etc didn't protest the much bigger deal Dow did with the IOC over a year ago. That baffles me.

Edited by RobH, 25 November 2011 - 08:41 AM.

[jerseyboi]

To be honest a think may be just little tit for tat from the indians as well
over commonwealth games and queen not going and who was going read opening speech.

Also at last heads of commonwealth meeting the reationship was frosty.

However its a complex issue

[adrianme17]

RobH, on 25 November 2011 - 08:38 AM, said:

It's annoying we now have three threads on this subject (the stadium thread, the Dow sponsorship thread, and now this one), because I've posted about the above point twice already!!

If Dow owns the company that was responsible and there are ongoing issues around the site (which campaigners claim there are with regard to drinking water and birth abnormalities), then the fact that they didn't own the plant at the time is irrelevent - surely they take on the ongoing responsibilities of the company they bought? As I've said before, I have some sympathy with those protesting. I wonder whether LOCOG really didn't see this coming, and would like to know how much influence the IOC TOP Sponsor deal with Dow had on LOCOG choosing them as the supplier for the wrap.

But what I don't get, as I said above, is why the campaigners, politicians etc didn't protest the much bigger deal Dow did with the IOC over a year ago. That baffles me.

Rob - i agree this is really an IOC matter not just a London 2012 matter.

Dow do have responsibilities to the people of Bhopal - they bought Union Carbide etc. And how Union Carbide got off so lightly in the 1st place is a damning indictment of both the Indian and American governements. Compare to the billions that the Americans forced BP to pay for in the Gulf disaster. So for example if BP was bought by another company they wouldn't have any obligations to those affected in the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico - would they just wipe the slate clean and say not my problem - was BP's but it doesn't exist anymore?

The IOC really should have thought about allowing Dow to become a worldwide sponsor - but that's money talking!

I really do hope there isn't a boycot because we know these never work and it is only the atheletes who suffer.

[baron-pierreIV]

RobH, on 25 November 2011 - 08:38 AM, said:

why the campaigners, politicians etc didn't protest the much bigger deal Dow did with the IOC over a year ago.

They were busy mucking up the CWG; that's why.

How quickly we forget.