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Plea to display Afghan flag didn't fly with IOC
Rogge rejected request for token role in parade
By Lisa Riley Roche
Deseret News staff writer
Ajmal Ghani, who was forced to flee his home in Afghanistan nearly 25 years ago, was not among the billions of people around the world tuned into the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Games.
After unsuccessfully trying to persuade the International Olympic Committee to allow his homeland's flag to be carried into Rice-Eccles Stadium during last Friday's ceremonies, Ghani said he was just too frustrated to watch.
"We should have had at least symbolic representation in Salt Lake City in order to bring a little bit more attention to sports in Afghanistan," Ghani, who now lives in Virginia, told the Deseret News in a telephone interview Sunday.
"It would have been a small thing," he said. "But it would have made a lot of us proud."
His campaign took him to back to Afghanistan for the first time since he and his family fled their native country in 1978, shortly before the former Soviet Union invaded and sparked a revolution that led to Taliban control.
During his trip, Ghani said he met with leaders of the new government in Kabul, including the interim head of state, Hamid Carzai, to promote the idea of sports being part of the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
With their support, he'd hope to kick off the effort by having a female athlete march in the parade of nations carrying Afghanistan's new flag during the opening ceremonies. But Ghani said his request was rejected by the International Olympic Committee.
IOC officials said only athletes qualified to compete in the Games are allowed to march in the parade of nations behind their country's flags. The IOC's formal suspension of Afghanistan's national Olympic committee has yet to be lifted, although talks are under way.
The IOC barred Afghanistan from sending a team to compete in the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, in part because under the Taliban, women were not allowed to participate in sports.
IOC President Jacques Rogge said there could be no token participation in the parade.
"Afghanistan has never, ever participated in a Winter Games," Rogge told reporters before the opening ceremonies. "There should be no symbolism. This should be the best athletes in the world."
The question of recognition for Afghanistan, however, was largely lost in the debate over whether the tattered flag recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center would be part of the opening ceremonies.
The IOC finally agreed but decided it would be more dignified to display the flag during the playing of the national anthem rather than behind the U.S. Olympic team as had been requested by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Ghani saw no irony in the IOC's decision to allow the Ground Zero flag to be part of the opening ceremonies even though it is seen as a symbol of resolve in America's war against terrorism.
That war is largely being fought in Afghanistan where the now defeated Taliban regime was harboring the terrorists believed to be responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.
"I think it was a great thing to do. But, hey, we were victims, too," Ghani said. "Afghanistan is now coming back into the world. I think the American people would have understood."
E-MAIL: lisa@desnews.com
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February 11, 2002
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