Dmitry Chernyshenko, the Russian head of the Sochi Games said today that Olympic athletes should not be allowed to express their political views during news conferences at the games, a position that puts him at odds with IOC President Thomas Bach, Radio Free Europe reports:
Bach said on January 27 that the Olympics "cannot be used as a stage for political demonstrations," but that "athletes enjoy the freedom of speech so if in a press conference they wanted to make a political statement, then they are absolutely free to do so."
Chernyshenko said that athletes could make political statements elsewhere, but not in the Olympic perimeter.