THE BRUNEI DARUSSALAM NATIONAL OLYMPIC COUNCIL IN DEFENSIVE MODE

THE BRUNEI DARUSSALAM NATIONAL OLYMPIC COUNCIL IN DEFENSIVE MODE

[From BruDirect's Have Your Say - 13 August 2008]

BDNOC Clarification on Beijing Olympic Games 2008

The Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BDNOC) would like to clarify with regard to “Brunei expelled from Beijing Olympics Games”, “Brunei excluded from Olympic Games” and “Brunei failed to register athletes on time for the Olympic Games” as follows:

The participation of Brunei Darussalam athletes any International Sports event such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the regional Southeast Asia Games must have the prior sanction from the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports, Brunei Darussalam, who are responsible for preparing and selecting athletes subject to meeting the preconditions and requirements for selection.

The BDNOC had officially written in March 2008, to the Youth & Sports Department under the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports, and identified two potential athletes from the Athletic sport events, Shot Put and swimming who could be most suited to represent Brunei Darussalam at the Beijing Olympic Games given the fact that they had done well at the recent SEA Games 2007 in Korat, Thailand, and also base on their achievement locally.

Furthermore, the International Olympic Council (IOC) had accepted the participation of these two athletes after they had been given the go ahead by the International governing bodies of their respective sport namely, International Association of Athletic Federation (IAAF) and International Swimming Federation (FINA) to partake under the “unqualified athletes” quota. The IOC had accepted and approved the participation of more than 20 other National Olympic Councils (NOC) including Brunei Darussalam under this category.

Brunei Darussalam’s participation in the Olympic Games is based on the Olympic Charter where under the by-law on Rule 28-3, it states that:
“The NOCs have exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games and at the regional, continental or world multi-sports competitions patronized by the International Olympic Council. In addition each NOC is obliged to participate in the Games of the Olympiad by sending athletes.”

From March 2008 until early July 2008, the Council did not receive any communication on the proposed choice of athletes from the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports on their decision to send or not to send athletes to the Olympics. However with the deadline 23rd July 2008 for “Sport Entry Registration” looming nearer, the Council took the initiative to register both these athletes while still eagerly waiting for an answer or approval from the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports.

With no reply as of 4th Aug 2008, a BDNOC member left to attend the “Delegate Registration Meeting” (DRM) in Beijing, which is compulsory for all the NOCs to attend and confirm their participation. Early in the meeting, BDNOC were informed not to attend this DRM as a result of non-confirmation of athlete’s participation to the Olympic Games. The outcome and consequence of this IOC decision was the President, officials and guests will not have accreditation cards or passes to the Opening Ceremony, Games village, Sports venues and other designated areas. The IOC had given BDNOC until midday Friday, 8th Aug 2008 to confirm the participation of its athletes to the Olympic Games, but to no avail.

The Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports in a letter dated 7th August 2008 addressed to the BDNOC, received on Friday 8th August at 11.45 hrs, through the Embassy of Brunei Darussalam in Beijing, informed its decision of non approval for the two athlete’s participation due to injury and no Regional and International achievement. Consequently, BDNOC confirmed to the IOC that Brunei Darussalam would not be participating in the Beijing Olympic Games.

The following is an extract from the IOC letter dated 8th August 2008, addressed to the President of BDNOC, received after the deadline for registration at 13.00 hrs on Friday 8th August 2008.

Quote…“Following a number of discussions with your NOC over the past few days, it transpires that, due to the restrictions on the athletes who were due to participate, your NOC will not be able to enter them to participate in the Beijing Olympic Games.

Unfortunately, the deadline that the IOC had set to remedy this situation has now passed and therefore we would like to formally confirm that we have instructed the Beijing Organizing Committee to take all appropriate measures to exclude the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council from participating in the Beijing Olympic Games. Therefore, all accreditations for your NOC (athletes, officials and guests) will be cancelled forthwith, access to the Opening Ceremony for all guests will be denied, all references to your NOC will be removed from the Olympic venues (in particular flags) and any reference to your NOC will be removed from the Opening Ceremony’s programme (parade, flag, announcement of delegation).

The IOC Executive Board will be informed of this situation and will undoubtedly take all the necessary measures with respect to an NOC that has failed to live up to its obligations as stipulated in the Olympic Charter.

We deeply regret this situation knowing that we have worked tirelessly to guarantee the participation of at least one athlete in the Games. We remain at your disposal for any clarification you may need.” .End quote.

The decision by the IOC to bar Brunei Darussalam from participating in the Olympic Games is a standard procedure by the IOC on its members failing to discharge their obligations as stated in the Olympic Charter, hence missing out on a great opportunity to be part of the “One World One Dream” theme of the Beijing Olympic Games.

The Council wishes to clarify to its citizens, that the failure to register the athletes on time was due to its inability to get necessary approval and the belated decision from the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports not to send the two athletes to the Olympic Games.

It is much to the regret of the Council, that this assessment of not intending to send both of the athletes due to reasons of injury or non achievement of standards, could have been conveyed to the Council much earlier, enabling the Council to take right measures, to avoid misunderstandings between the Council and the IOC and clarify issues and state its position on significant matters as the governing body for sport in Brunei Darussalam.

This post was submitted by bdnoc.