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Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter states "no kind
of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is
permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."
Athletes who breach the rule are subject to discipline on a
case-by-case basis and the IOC issued guidelines in January
clarifying that banned protests include taking a knee and other
gestures.
The IOC told the Telegraph the guidelines were still in place
and that it would not speculate on "hypothetical cases 13 months
before the Olympic Games", the newspaper said.
Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, died after a white
Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck
for nearly nine minutes on May 25.
His death sparked worldwide protests against racial injustice,
with several soccer players in Germany's Bundesliga delivering
their own messages of support during games.
World governing body FIFA, which has shown zero tolerance for
players expressing their views on the field, has asked
competition organisers to use "common sense" regarding protests
over Floyd's death.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who was widely criticised for
the league's handling of Colin Kaepernick's kneeling protests in
2016, said on Friday the NFL had made mistakes in not listening
to players and encouraged them to speak out and "peacefully
protest".
Anti-racism movements are expected to be discussed at an IOC
executive board meeting on Wednesday.
While athlete protests at the Olympics are rare, at the 1968
Mexico City Games black U.S. sprinters Tommie Smith and John
Carlos bowed their heads and raised black-gloved fists on the
podium to protest racial inequality.
At Rio 2016, Ethiopian marathon runner Feyisa Lilesa raised his
arms and crossed his wrists when crossing the finish line to
show support for his Oromo tribe's protests over government
plans to reallocate farmland.
(Writing by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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