What Is The Ethos Of The Modern Olympic Games?
The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. (Ask Jeeves)
If Zeus was standing on top of Mount Olympus, looking down, I suspect he might well be tempted to throw a few thunderbolts at the London Olympics.
The rules have been changed for the corporate sponsors, so that many of the big players will no longer have to pay tax on the profits they make from what is virtually a monopoly position. As HMRC notes:
"There is a temporary exemption from UK Corporation Tax and UK Income Tax for certain non-resident companies that engage in Games-related activities or provide services for the delivery of the London 2012 Games."(1)
And the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is well aware of this:
"The sad fact is that passing tax avoidance legislation has now become part of the culture for hosting international competitions such as the Olympics and the World Cup. Without these tax sweeteners the International Olympic Committee would simply take their corporate circus elsewhere."
While newspapers have brought this to the public's attention, it is noteworthy that David Cameron has avoided any statement that this is "morally repulsive", to use his own turn of phrase. And yet these companies make Jimmy Carr's scheme look like peanuts. The big companies like Visa, Coca-Cola etc can clean up on the event.
MacDonald's however, have issued the statement that: ""We will not be making any corporate income tax exemption claim with respect to any activity concerning our involvement with the London Olympic and Paralympic Games"
Yet they still retain their monopoly on vending branded food, along with the other corporate "sponsors":
"Exclusive monopoly rights are an essential part of the sponsorship deals signed with Olympic partners. Visa will be the only credit card accepted at any Olympic venue, just as it was for those trying to buy tickets for the Games last year. McDonald's will be the only branded food that can be sold at the events and Coca-Cola the only drinks provider. Logos and adverts for competing brands will be covered up to avoid 'contamination' during the Games." (2)
Anything like an infringement, even on a small scale, has the corporate lawyers coming out to threaten writs against the offender. Branding has become the god of the Olympics. Don't expect a spirit of friendship, solidarity or fair play. Or anything that suggests that discrimination is bad.
The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. (Ask Jeeves)
If Zeus was standing on top of Mount Olympus, looking down, I suspect he might well be tempted to throw a few thunderbolts at the London Olympics.
The rules have been changed for the corporate sponsors, so that many of the big players will no longer have to pay tax on the profits they make from what is virtually a monopoly position. As HMRC notes:
"There is a temporary exemption from UK Corporation Tax and UK Income Tax for certain non-resident companies that engage in Games-related activities or provide services for the delivery of the London 2012 Games."(1)
And the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is well aware of this:
"The sad fact is that passing tax avoidance legislation has now become part of the culture for hosting international competitions such as the Olympics and the World Cup. Without these tax sweeteners the International Olympic Committee would simply take their corporate circus elsewhere."
While newspapers have brought this to the public's attention, it is noteworthy that David Cameron has avoided any statement that this is "morally repulsive", to use his own turn of phrase. And yet these companies make Jimmy Carr's scheme look like peanuts. The big companies like Visa, Coca-Cola etc can clean up on the event.
MacDonald's however, have issued the statement that: ""We will not be making any corporate income tax exemption claim with respect to any activity concerning our involvement with the London Olympic and Paralympic Games"
Yet they still retain their monopoly on vending branded food, along with the other corporate "sponsors":
"Exclusive monopoly rights are an essential part of the sponsorship deals signed with Olympic partners. Visa will be the only credit card accepted at any Olympic venue, just as it was for those trying to buy tickets for the Games last year. McDonald's will be the only branded food that can be sold at the events and Coca-Cola the only drinks provider. Logos and adverts for competing brands will be covered up to avoid 'contamination' during the Games." (2)
Anything like an infringement, even on a small scale, has the corporate lawyers coming out to threaten writs against the offender. Branding has become the god of the Olympics. Don't expect a spirit of friendship, solidarity or fair play. Or anything that suggests that discrimination is bad.
And so much for the promotion of "healthy food". MacDonald's? Coca-Cola? Cadbury? This is vicarious health, where you can watch athletes competing while stuffing yourself with junk food. That's clearly how we are educating youth through sport. What message is this given out to ordinary people?
Maurice Roche, writing in 2000, spoke with prescience of the trend to seek money for the games regardless of the other implications:
"The idealistic meanings and values distinctive of the Olympic sport worldview are notionally internationalist rather than nationalist. Also, while the high tide of its 'amateurist' anti-commercial vision of sport is long gone, there remains at least an idealistic indifference to commercial gain in the meaning of 'Olympism'. On both of these fronts the contemporary Olympics can be argued to have lost touch with these values and even to be subverting them." (3)
Links
(1) http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/2012games/tax-exemptions/bus-profits-exemption.htm
(2) http://www.redpepper.org.uk/reclaiming-the-olympics/
(3) Mega-Events and Modernity: Olympics and Expos in the Growth of Global Culture. Maurice Roche, 2000
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1 comment:
"The sad fact is that passing tax avoidance legislation has now become part of the culture for hosting international competitions such as the Olympics and the World Cup. Without these tax sweeteners the International Olympic Committee would simply take their corporate circus elsewhere."
To which there is a simple answer: call their bluff. If enough nations say no - leaving the IOC with a devalued product and nowhere to put it - the culture of tax sweeteners will evaporate.
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