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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

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Could Geneva be first Swiss canton to grant foreign residents more voting rights?

Voters in the country’s most "international" canton Geneva will soon have their say on whether non-Swiss citizens living in their midst should have more political rights.

Published: 29 April 2024 12:19 CEST
Could Geneva be first Swiss canton to grant foreign residents more voting rights?

Foreigners are not allowed to vote on national level anywhere in Switzerland.

Though there had been attempts in the past to change this rule, the latest such move was turned down by legislators in 2022.

However, five cantons are permitting foreign residents to cast their votes in local referendums and elections: Geneva, Vaud, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, and Jura. Conditions vary from one canton to another, but in all cases a certain length of stay and a residence permit are required.

(In Zurich, a similar move was rejected in 2023).

Of the five cantons, only Neuchâtel and Jura authorise foreign residents to vote on cantonal level in addition to communal one; in the others, they can cast municipal ballots only. 

Additionally, three other cantons have similar laws on their books, but they this legislation remains mostly inactive.

Basel-City, Graubünden, and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden have authorised their communes to introduce the right to vote, the right to elect, and the right to be elected for their non-Swiss residents. 

However, only few of the communes in these cantons have actually introduced these measures.

Wait…Geneva’s foreigners already have the right to vote?

Yes, they have had this right since 2005, but only on municipal level.

However, this could change on June 9th, when Geneva residents will go to the polls to weigh in on an initiative launched by the trade unions and political left, calling for foreigners who have lived in the canton for at least eight years, to be able to vote and stand as candidates for political offices at the cantonal level.

This ‘upgrade’ to the cantonal voting rights is important, supporters argue, because it would enable foreigners to have more political impact.

“Municipal votes are quite rare, and the issues at stake are relatively limited,” the initiative committee said.

Therefore, “access to the cantonal vote will allow these same people to express their views on wider subjects that affect them on a daily basis.”

Is this  measure likely to be accepted?

No reliable forecasts exist at this point.

And while foreigners constitute nearly 40 percent of Geneva’s population — the highest proportion in Switzerland —  it will be up to Swiss citizens to decide on the outcome.

However, some members of the Geneva parliament are urging the ‘no’ vote on June 9th.

“No canton, no country, provides such generous rights to their foreigners,” the MPs from the centre parties pointed out in an interview with Tribune de Genève over the weekend.

(Neuchâtel and Jura allow voting, but not standing for election, at cantonal level).

“The only path for foreigners to obtain full political rights is through naturalisation,” the MPs added.

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