# Russia's 2014 Winter Olympics faces calls for boycott **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 10, 2013, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860 "2013-08-10T12:28:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860/21 "2013-08-12T22:05:31Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > What part of “miracle” or “corrupt process” do you not understand? I do not understand how it would be possible to have the Olympics in a country where women are required to dress like that. The Saudis wouldn’t permit it in the first place, but even so the IOC wouldn’t permit it, and no country with female athletes would permit it. It’s impossible. So why talk about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860/22 "2013-08-12T22:23:09Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > What’s the gay equivalent of giving the “black power” salute on the medal podium? Start singing YMCA. Oh, and, at this point, I’m okay with not singling out the Olympics. Let’s call for a boycott of Russia across the board. If we can cut off all connection with Cuba because they’re Communist, you’d think we’d be able to cut connections with Russia… oh, wait… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860/23 "2013-08-12T23:05:49Z")
From Stephen Fry’s letter: > [@](#): > > An absolute ban on the Russian Winter Olympics of 2014 on Sochi is simply essential. Stage them elsewhere in Utah, Lillyhammer, anywhere you like. At all costs Putin cannot be seen to have the approval of the civilised world. Isn’t that rather impossible at this point? Yeah, yeah, I get that those places have already hosted the Winter Games and thus have the arenas and such already built, but there’s a lot more that goes into planning and hosting an event that big than just building the arenas, and it seems wholly unrealistic to me to expect to do all of that in a scant few months (minus however long it would take the IOC to even make the decision). ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860/24 "2013-08-12T23:22:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > From Stephen Fry’s letter: > > Isn’t that rather impossible at this point? Yeah, yeah, I get that those places have already hosted the Winter Games and thus have the arenas and such already built, but there’s a lot more that goes into planning and hosting an event that big than just building the arenas, and it seems wholly unrealistic to me to expect to do all of that in a scant few months (minus however long it would take the IOC to even make the decision). There’s [talk](http://news.yahoo.com/olympics--actor-george-takei-joins-petition-to-move-winter-olympics-from-russia-to-canada-134452876.html) that it wouldn’t take much to get Canada’s site up to snuff. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860/25 "2013-08-13T00:12:06Z")
Again, though, it’s not just the site itself. Consider hotel rooms, for instance: In 2010, when everyone knew that Vancouver would be hosting the games, nobody planned on staying in a hotel there unless they were specifically there for the games. This winter, though, there are probably already several conferences, conventions, and business trips that are scheduled there. Can the hotels accommodate Olympic traffic on top of normal traffic? Or the vendors: When there’s an Olympics, people come from all over to provide the athletes and fans with all the products they need and want, food, souvenirs, whatever. Can all those vendors change their plans in time to converge on Vancouver? And the city probably needs to beef up the ranks of their public service sector, folks like police. You can do that when you know about it in advance, but how long is the police-training pipeline? Can they swell up their force by enough, between now and this winter? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860/26 "2013-08-13T01:45:22Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > What’s the gay equivalent of giving the “black power” salute on the medal podium? > [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Men’s figure skating. I thought having the gold medalist start making out with the silver medalist would work. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860/27 "2013-08-13T13:54:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Or the vendors: When there’s an Olympics, people come from all over to provide the athletes and fans with all the products they need and want, food, souvenirs, whatever. Can all those vendors change their plans in time to converge on Vancouver? And where are they going to find enough prostitutes on such short notice? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860/28 "2013-08-13T14:03:23Z")
In other news: [Canada to favour refugee claims by gay Russians](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-to-favour-refugee-claims-by-gay-russians/article13724670/): > [@](#): > > Canada’s refugee board is likely to look favourably on claims of persecution by gay asylum-seekers from Russia, the Immigration Minister says. > > Chris Alexander said Monday in Surrey, B.C., that Russia has taken the wrong path in restricting the fundamental rights of its gay community, and that any refugee claims “related to this particular issue will of course be looked at very seriously by our very generous system.” > … > Canada also resettles refugees living in camps abroad, and former immigration minister Jason Kenney, now the Employment and Social Development Minister, adopted a policy of trying to resettle gay refugees fleeing Iran and Iraq. Mr. Kenney said in January he “cannot think of a more obvious case of persecution.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860/29 "2013-08-13T17:10:51Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > There’s [talk](http://news.yahoo.com/olympics--actor-george-takei-joins-petition-to-move-winter-olympics-from-russia-to-canada-134452876.html) that it wouldn’t take much to get Canada’s site up to snuff. It is totally impossible. There’s no conceivable way Vancouver could be ready on six months’ notice. There is nowhere for the athletes to sleep and eat. There is no security apparatus. There’s not hotel room. There’s no time to recruit and train the THOUSANDS of volunteers that make an Olympics work. The venues themselves are the least of your concerns. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860/30 "2013-08-13T17:21:23Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > What’s the gay equivalent of giving the “black power” salute on the medal podium? [Two snaps up in circle formation.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDjn0sJ_jfk) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860/31 "2013-08-14T22:24:26Z")
I think the countries should send their athletes but no tourists. We allow the folks who have trained so hard to compete, but we keep Russia’s profit on the games to a minimum. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860/32 "2013-08-14T22:47:41Z")
Nobody makes a profit on Olympic hosting anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russias-2014-winter-olympics-faces-calls-for-boycott/665860.md?page=1)