This, we submit, is extremely unfair and violates the Olympic Charter and its principles.

BBC: Exchange of letters between Thanou and IOC

Mr Hunt said welcomed the committee's comments about a boycott which, he said, "are now illegal under the Olympic Charter".

BBC: Culture questions; Commons questions

The conference aimed to translate into action the principles of the International Charter of Physical Education and Sport, the Olympic Charter and other international instruments.

UNESCO: Social and Human Sciences

The move, which came into force in 1992, is "in complete contradiction with the Olympic Charter" according to Gueye and represented an unacceptable form of "racial discrimination".

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Notwithstanding any other arguments on the issue, it is our contention that it is the IOC itself which violates the Olympic Charter and brings the Movement into disrepute, by discriminating against Ms Thanou and by simply trying to apply double standards.

BBC: Exchange of letters between Thanou and IOC

"Despite the Olympic Charter's goal of fostering 'respect for universal fundamental ethical principles, ' the IOC awarded its most prestigious event, the Summer Games, to a government that arbitrarily imprisons, tortures, murders and harvests the organs of its own people, " Helms said in a statement.

CNN: Washington gives Beijing selection mixed reviews

Such decision to exclude her from the next Olympiad will have no legal grounds, it will violate the Olympic Charter, it will bring the Olympic Movement into disrepute, it will constitute an abuse of power and discrimination against an athlete who has qualified successfully according to the rules and it will breach the European Convention on Human Rights.

BBC: Exchange of letters between Thanou and IOC

If you want to focus on a single Olympic hopeful, Barnett can't help much, since USA Weightlifting's charter precludes his showing favoritism.

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