Statement by the Argentine National Olympic Committee

Buenos Aires, Argentina; 8 May 2012: The Argentine National Olympic Committee today issued a formal statement following the broadcast of a Government advert in Argentina featuring national hockey captain Fernando Zylberberg.

Gerardo Werthein, President of the Argentine NOC, said:

“The Argentine National Olympic Committee is fully committed to the Olympic Charter and the best practices of the Olympic Movement. We strongly believe the Olympic Games are not a platform for politics and we have communicated this position to the International Olympic Committee.

“We, of course, defend an individual’s right to freedom of speech but this cannot interfere with the sporting performance of our team at the forthcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. Indeed, the Argentine NOC has made clear that using the Olympic Games to make political gestures of any kind is not acceptable and we will conduct ourselves in the proper spirit of Olympism in all that we do in London and elsewhere.”