Iran to participate at Beijing 2022 to stress separation of sports from politics

TEHRAN, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The president of Iran's National Olympic Committee (NOC) said on Tuesday that by taking part in the upcoming Beijing Olympic Winter Games, the Iranian team seeks to carry the message that the field of sports is separate from that of politics.

Reza Salehi Amiri made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua and other media after a meeting in Tehran with Chang Hua, China's Ambassador to Iran.

Salehi Amiri said sport is the area for expansion of relations among nations, noting that Iran's participation at Beijing 2022 conveys to other countries' officials the message that any attempt to politicize sports has no impact on the will of the Iranian nation and sports community.

He praised the Chinese government and people for holding significant sports events, such as Beijing 2022 and the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, saying that both are important tournaments in the event calendar of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The NOC president also expressed his sincere gratitude to the Chinese ambassador to Tehran for playing such an important role in facilitating the expansion of relations between the two countries.

"We have already confirmed three athletes' places and have requested the IOC to allow us to add a sportswoman to our delegation. In addition, Iranian Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Hamid Sajjadi and I also plan to attend the event in Beijing," Salehi Amiri said.

Commending China's hosting of sports events, Salehi Amiri said order, discipline and effective management have always been among the distinctive features of the tournaments held in China.

"For the same reason, my colleagues at the NOC have no concerns over the Iranian teams' presence in Beijing and Hangzhou."

He added that Iran expects the Chinese Olympic Committee and Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG) to prepare the ground in such a way as to enable those interested in skiing to come to Beijing.

For the Hangzhou event, Iran is willing to perform extensive cultural activities in addition to sporting ones, Salehi Amiri said.

"Sport is an area for the promotion of cultural and soft diplomacy and has an emphasis on the improvement of relations among the nations," he said.

On the strict COVID-19 measures adopted by China for holding the two events, Salehi Amiri said the NOC is in constant contact with the organizing committees in Beijing and Hangzhou and continuously receives the issued handbooks and instructions.

He stressed that the measures are for the protection of athletes' health and will be observed by teams from all participating countries, including Iran.

"We have the experience of managing our sports teams under COVID-19 pandemic circumstances during the Tokyo Summer Olympics, which can be of assistance to us in Beijing and Hangzhou," he added.