Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

Swiss ski chief Kasper: Olympics are ‘easier in dictatorships’

An International Olympic Committee member has made controversial statements praising dictatorships' ability to hold sporting events without the people's consent.

Published: 6 February 2019 12:06 CET
Swiss ski chief Kasper: Olympics are 'easier in dictatorships'
FIS-president Gian Franco Kasper. File photo: Georg Hochmuth/APA/AFP.

International ski chief Gian Franco Kasper suggested this week that “everything is easier in dictatorships” in reference to the awarding of the 2022 Winter Olympics to China.

“Dictators can organize events such as this without asking the people's permission,” the 75-year-old honorary International Olympic Committee member told Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.

“For us, everything is easier in dictatorships,” the International Ski Federation (FIS) president asserted. Beijing, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics, beat Almaty in Kazakhstan for the right to host the 2022 edition, the first Winter Games to be held in China.

The ski chief cited business arguments for his case in response to a question about whether sports federations should take into account human rights abuses when collaborating with states.

“From the business side, I say: I just want to go to dictatorships, I do not want to argue with environmentalists,” Kasper, who has been head of FIS since 1998, told Swiss daily Tagez-Anzeiger in the interview. 

Kasper argued that sport can help bring about political change through engagement. 

“The sport can also be a door opener, maybe we made a contribution to the opening of North Korea in Pyeongchang with the united Team Korea,” said Kasper.

A unified team from North Korea and South Korea has participated in past Olympic events in certain disciplines. At the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, a unified women's hockey team played as Korea under a unification flag. 

The septuagenarian Swiss ski chief did however suggest there are red lines he would not cross. 

“I do not want to go to a country, invest in skiing there, while the population starves. That's where I draw the red line. If Qatar applied tomorrow for the Olympics, then I am against (their proposal),” added Kasper.

Qatar, which will host the 2022 Fifa World Cup, has been criticized by human rights observers for the below standard working conditions of migrant workers building the tournament's infrastructure. 

Kasper, no stranger to controversy, then turned to the question of global warming in the interview.

Taking a somewhat sceptical approach he recalled that the temperature plummeted to -30 degrees Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) during the opening days of last year's Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

“To everyone who approached me shivering I said 'Welcome to global warming!'. There are always some winters that are cold and others warm,” he said. 

READ MORE: Online games looking to get a foot into the Olympics

POLITICS

Vital Swiss role as US-Iran go-between, as tensions soar

Washington and Tehran have not had diplomatic relations for decades, but before Iran's attack on Israel they had direct communications through "the Swiss channel".

Published: 15 April 2024 23:19 CEST
Vital Swiss role as US-Iran go-between, as tensions soar

Switzerland represents US interests in Iran, and at times of soaring tensions its role as go- between takes on heightened importance.

The Swiss foreign ministry refused Monday to divulge what actions the country had taken in connection with Iran’s weekend attack on Israel.

But US and Iranian officials alluded to the important role Switzerland was playing as an intermediary.

As Washington engaged in whirlwind efforts prior to the attack to prepare for the expected violence, it sent “a series of direct communications through the Swiss channel”, a senior administration official told AFP.

Mohammad Bagheri, the Iranian armed forces’ chief of staff, was more explicit, telling state television that “we sent a message to America through the Swiss embassy that if it cooperates with Israel in their next potential actions, their bases will not be secure”.

 Maintaining relations 

Switzerland, renowned for its neutrality, has been representing US interests in Iran since Washington broke off relations with Tehran after the 1980 hostage crisis, a year after the Iranian revolution.

In its role as the so-called protecting power, Switzerland has for decades allowed the two feuding nations to maintain a minimum of diplomatic and consular relations.

The Swiss embassy in Tehran handles all consular affairs between the United States and Iran, including passport requests, altering civil status and consular protection for US citizens in Iran.

Under the protecting power mandate, Switzerland allows “states to maintain low-level relations and provide consular protection to nationals of the other state concerned”, the foreign ministry explains on its website.

“Switzerland can either offer to act as a go-between on its own initiative or can fulfil this function at the request of the parties concerned, provided that all those involved agree,” it added.

Switzerland has often had to play the go-between role.

The country has on several occasions in recent years mediated in prisoner exchanges between Iran and the United States.

Iran’s interests in the United States are meanwhile represented by Pakistan.

Switzerland also exercises a range of other protecting power mandates.

It represents Iran’s interests in Egypt and Canada.

And it represented Iran’s interests in Saudi Arabia for five years before the two countries resumed diplomatic relations last year.

Saudi has not yet formally terminated Switzerland’s protecting power mandate, so Bern still handles its consular services in Iran.

And until 2015, it represented US interests in Cuba and Cuban interests in the United States.

Switzerland first acted as a protecting power in the 19th century. It looked after the interests of the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Grand Duchy of Baden in France during the 1870-71 Franco- Prussian War.

During World War II, Switzerland’s neutral status paved the way for it to be the main protecting power, representing the interests of 35 states, including the major warring powers, with more than 200 individual mandates.

SHOW COMMENTS