Although the Olympic Movement has its obvious faults, it is very successful in other areas of Olympism. The Olympic Games are a very well respected international competition. Bruce Kidd (2008) argued that the Olympic Movement has propelled positive manifestations, such as Olympic Aid, which is now known as Right to Play, a program generated by
Olympic athletes in conjunction with Lillehammer’s Organizing Committee, Red Cross, Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council, the Norwegian Church Council, and
Norwegian People’s Council (Kidd, 2008, p. 372). The Olympic athletes come together and generate public donations, auctioning off athlete’s memorabilia and various other ways of generating money for humanitarian aid. Chappelet and Kubler-Mabbot (2008) pointed out that the IOC has triumphed in unifying nations in some form of world peace. The Olympic Games could not exist without the IOC.
The pristine version of the Olympic Games has developed a unique and beautiful notion which is associated with its logo. “The symbol of the Olympic Games, the five rings, is the most readily identified image in the world” (Adranovich et al., 2001, p. 114). The Games provide a worldwide display of commercialism, which allows sponsors to showcase their products. This has a positive effect on consumerism. Another positive aspect of the Olympic Games is that small or poor countries have the same opportunity to compete in the
Games, provided of course, that the athletes meet the Olympic standards. In this respect, the Olympic Games have helped unify the world and bring athletes from across the globe
together. Part of the reason the Olympic Games are so prestigious is because they are relatively scarce, occurring every four years.
Some of my criticisms may appear harsh, however, I do not intend to take away from the positive aspects of the Olympic Movement, the IOC or the Olympic Games, nor do I intend to discuss any corruption which may be present within the IOC. It is evident that these Games definitely have their positive features. There is an essential need for the
Olympic Games in the sporting world. This international sporting competition gives athletes goals to achieve and presents the athletes in a positive light. The issues discussed have not been with just the Olympic Games themselves. Although I have focused on the aspect of human rights violations, I do not intend to diminish the successes the IOC has achieved throughout the years.
The IOC and the Olympic Games have countless times overcome adversity and challenges presented by the world in order to present a show to entertain the world and bring the world together. With an organization as large as the IOC and in the constant limelight of the media and the world, there are obvious corruption scandals and other issues that will surface. In order to achieve such a successful mega-event, it seems inevitable that not everything will be done to the highest ethical standards. Achieving these highest standards would be ideal, however, it is unlikely to happen based on differences in opinions and the multitude of tasks that must be accomplished. For this reason, I have not discussed the inner workings of the IOC or how they operate as an organization. Even though many authors have attempted to prove that the IOC is corrupt, I do not plan to discuss their level of corruption as a whole as I believe that they are, for the most part, a successful organization and that would be the topic of another larger study. The primary problem of concern for this thesis work is with the human rights violations that have continually occurred in the
preparation of the Olympic Games. There is no need for these violations since the people of Rio de Janeiro, or any host city, are external to the Games themselves, and thus should not suffer.
Obviously there is a need to ensure the safety of everyone attending the Olympic Games, whether participating, working or viewing. Changes must be made to the host city in order to ensure that safety regulations can be met. For this reason, it is understandable that certain processes that do not make everyone happy may be overlooked in order to achieve a positive experience and safe for all. It then becomes difficult to draw the line as to what exceeds the limit of violations in order to ensure the safety of the people. It seems excessive and unnecessary that people need to permanently lose their homes in order to ensure a positive experience for a two week event. With Rio de Janeiro, and various other host cities, experiencing drastic changes for the sake of the Games, it questions the bid process and whether the IOC is actually picking a worthy host. If for the sake of the Games, an abundant amount of human rights violations must occur, I must conclude that the IOC did not chose a host capable of hosting the Games. If the violations, which have been pointed out in
previous chapters, are not for the sake of the safety of the people, an ethical catastrophe has spiraled out of control within the Olympic Movement. This would imply that the human rights violations which occur during the preparation of the Olympic Games have simply become accepted both complicity and actively, by both the IOC and host cities, which questions the ethical nature of the Olympic Movement.
In order for the Olympic Games to be effectively hosted while maintaining the ideals of Olympism throughout the process, it is crucial that the IOC address the importance of human rights. By neglecting to mention human rights within Olympism or the Olympic Charter, it has increased the likelihood that these rights can be overlooked and thus violated. Callahan argues that we need “to try to avoid vague, unclear, or over-general fundamental moral principles which have implications that we simply cannot accept” (Callahan, 1988, p. 18). Unacceptable implications of moral principles occur when the principles are too broad or general, for example, the general nature of the many definitions of Olympism. In
particular, this emphasizes the problem with the IOC’s lack of mentioning human rights within their definition of Olympism.
Sport organizations need to change and adapt to the constantly changing world. Slack & Parent (2006) claimed that the need for change may come from external or internal factors within an organization. When dealing with the IOC, and what is argued in this thesis,
namely, its resulting need for the actual implementation of Olympism, there are notably both external and internal factors which can create the need for change. The external pressures exist from social and media exposure of the ethical issues present within the Olympic
Movement. With each newspaper article, interview, novel, and even graduate theses, on this topic, an external pressure on the IOC is created and increases their need for change. Also, there has been some evidence of the IOC’s realization of the need for change, based on the actions taken in an attempt to deal with the hypocrisy revealed by the actions of the IOC and host cities. Slack & Parent also identify four areas where organizational change can occur. These areas are: technology, structures and systems, products and services, and people (Slack & Parent, 2006, p. 239). The change needed within the IOC is people change. “People change involves modifications to the way people think and act and the way they relate to each other” (Slack & Parent, 2006, p. 240). Of course, there is the debate of what constitutes an organization or a corporation, but for the purpose of this thesis, the IOC will be viewed as an organization. The organizational structure will not be examined in detail as this is not the topic of this thesis, although it could be a thesis topic on its own.
Though it may seem that radical change is needed here, I believe that only convergent change, for example change from within the organization that ensures the implementation of Olympism, is necessary since all that is required is the actual implementation of Olympic ideals. There will naturally be resistance to change within the organization, however, there are necessary steps required in order to overcome such resistance. Slack and Parent
identified the importance of education and communication as well as participation and involvement (Slack & Parent, 2006, p. 246). The importance of educating members of the IOC, as well as the participants and fans of the Olympic Games in Olympism is very clear.
As an avid sports fan and lifelong watcher of the Olympic Games, I had not even heard of the word Olympism until I began my research and discovered that the IOC had its own philosophy entitled Olympism. By addressing the importance of Olympism, throughout the Olympic Movement, the IOC is made more accountable for its delivery. In implementing participation and involvement throughout the process of educating and proposing this idea of Olympism, the IOC is committing to its importance. Through commitment to the importance of Olympism, its achievement becomes imperative for the success of the Olympic Games.
In demonstrating some of the positive aspects of the Olympic Movement, I maintain my position that these positive factors do not outweigh the negative and unethical actions experienced in the preparation of the Olympic Games. Although it is very positive that athletes have come together to promote their Olympic Aid program or Right to Play program, as Kidd (2008) has mentioned, these athletes are not the ones who have ill-treated the
residents of the host cities. Therefore their positive actions cannot counterbalance the unethical treatment these residents have received. It is true the IOC has brought these athletes together for the sake of the Olympic Games, however, if we chose to give the IOC responsibility and credit for positive actions from the athletes with the Olympic Aid program, it seems evident that the IOC then becomes responsible for the human rights violations experienced in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Since the IOC stands atop the Olympic hierarchy, they must be held accountable for all actions beneath them.
With the Olympic rings symbolizing a positive image of unity, and the positive image that most of the Olympic athletes generate, there is no room for the unethical treatment of anyone. The human race has rights, which have been outlined by the United Nations, and regardless of the amount of positive and ethical detractions from the Olympic Games, it does not excuse ignorance or violation of these rights. As an international organization i) the IOC ought to take responsibility for any delegated action and ensure that any steps taken to provide the Olympic Games must be done to the most ethical standard possible. In
disregarding the human rights of the residents of Rio de Janeiro, and any other host city, the Olympic Movement and thus the IOC, become hypocritical based on their value of
Olympism. Either the IOC must forfeit the concept of Olympism and remove it from the Olympic Charter, which may come at a great cost, or they must re-evaluate what Olympism means to them and to the Olympic Movement and how change must be implemented to ensure the instantiation of these positive and ethical ideals. Evidently, it can be established that ii) there is a pressing need for change throughout the Olympic Movement when dealing with human rights violations.