Iran’s premiere athletic boss, Mohammad Aliabadi, has threatened to pull his athletes from the 2012 London Olympics over its “racist” logo.
Aliabadi claims the bold, jagged logo featuring the numbers 2012 actually spells out ‘ZION,’ and he has accused the Olympic committee of committing a “revolting act” of racism, as ‘Zion’ indicates a pro-Israeli agenda.
In a letter to International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, Aliabadi warned that unless the £400,000 logo was tossed out, Iran and several other Islamic countries would refuse participation in the international games.
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This is not the first time the 2012 Olymic logo has been under fire. When it was first revealed in 2007, the logo caught criticism for being too edgy, some going so far as to call it a modern interpretation of a swastika. Some wonder why Aliabaldi waited four years to make a formal complaint, after the controversy over the logo has already been settled.
Olympic’s chairman Sebastian Coe defended the logo saying: “This is the vision at the very heart of our brand. It will define the venues we build and the Games we hold and act as a reminder of our promise to use the Olympic spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people around the world.”
The controversial logo is supposed to be splattered over 100,000 different pieces of Olympic merchandise in an effort to raise an estimated £80 million towards hosting the games in Stratford, East London and the Olympic committee shows no signs of changing the logo, despite Aliabadi’s displeasure.
Said a spokesman: “The London 2012 logo represents the year 2012, nothing else.”
