Chairman of the French Olympic Committee Henri Serandour, in an article published Saturday, expressed his distress and anger over the disruption of the Olympic torch relay in Paris by Tibetan separatists and their supporters.
In the article carried by the French newspaper Le Monde, Serandour said he had expected Paris' relay of the Olympic torch to show the world France's love for the Olympic spirit and the Olympic Games, but what he saw was the insult of the torch bearers by some people.
Noting the disruption left him distressed and angry, Serandour termed all the moves to sabotage the Olympics as mistakes which show disrespect for other people and history. The Olympic Games should be independent from politics, and no one should sacrifice the athletes' Olympic dreams to a political end, he said.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected Beijing as the host city for the 2008 Olympic Games, a move which embodied the IOC's hope for the participation by the Chinese people, which account for one-fifth of the world's total population, in the Olympic family, Serandour wrote.
The Games are for all the athletes, he said, adding that a large number of French athletes firmly stated their sincere support for the Olympic spirit, namely peace, friendliness and tolerance, even before the torch arrived in the French capital.
(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2008)