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Olympic chief Jacques Rogge said today he did not agree to Internet restrictions on foreign media in Beijing, describing the situation as “not good”, just six days before the start of the Games.
But the International Olympic Committee president stopped short of offering an apology despite the flood of criticism after China backtracked on Internet freedoms for the visiting press.
“The conditions you were working in on Tuesday were not good,” Rogge told reporters at a press conference here, after foreign journalists this week found they could not access a wide range of Internet sites.
“I am not going to make an apology for something that the IOC is not responsible for. We are not running the Internet in China,” Rogge added.
Beijing has since unblocked a number of sites including that of Amnesty International, but many remain inaccessible, bringing more unwanted bad publicity for Games organisers and the Chinese government.
Rogge told a news conference here late today there was “no deal whatsoever to accept restrictions,” contrary to reports that said otherwise.
IOC executive board member Kevan Gosper said earlier today the IOC and BOCOG, the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, have set up a working group to examine which remaining censored websites can be unblocked.
On Friday, the previously barred websites of Amnesty, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders and German broadcaster Deutsche Welle were accessible.
But many other sites were still inaccessible, including those linked to Chinese dissidents, the outlawed Falungong spiritual movement, the Tibetan government-in-exile and sites about the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
Rogge’s comments came after the IOC announced here it had stripped the United States’ 4×400-metre men’s relay team of the gold medal it won at the Sydney 2000 Olympics for doping.
The decision was made after team member Antonio Pettigrew admitted in May to doping as far back as 1997, IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said.
The Nigerian team, who placed second, will now receive the gold medal, she said.
Earlier at a ceremony at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Rogge presented a four million dollar cheque to help build a school for athletes in Sichuan province, which is still recovering from the May 12 earthquake which killed more then 69,000 people, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Athletes from France, Italy, Singapore and North Korea moved into Beijing’s athletes village while officials and volunteers were running through a dress rehearsal for Friday’s opening ceremony.
Thousands swarmed the Olympic district in the early evening, angling for the best possible view of the National Stadium, better known as the Bird’s Nest for its design.
The main draw was the spectacular fireworks display, which will be visible from across the city, as the heavy smog that often blights the city lifted.
The first rehearsal took place on July 11 within a ring of tight security around the Olympic stadium. However, a crew from South Korea’s private station SBS sneaked in and then broadcast parts on television Tuesday before posting it on the Internet.