Jacques Rogge: Dow not involved in Bhopal

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge urged India's Olympic Association (IOA) to talk with its athletes over ongoing protests related to the 2012 London Games' sponsorship deal with Dow Chemical. The Indian government has asked its Olympic association to raise the issue of the sponsorship deal in the latest sign of pressure on organisers to reconsider the involvement of a company linked to the Bhopal gas disaster. Many victims and activists hold Dow responsible for failing to give enough compensation to victims and some have called for a boycott of the London Games. The pesticide plant which caused the Bhopal gas disaster was owned by Union Carbide, which settled its liabilities with the Indian government in 1989 by paying $470 million (Dh1.7 billion) for the Bhopal victims. Dow bought Union Carbide a decade after the company made this settlement and now finds itself in the firing line for its sponsorship of a temporary decorative wrap over London's Olympic Stadium. "Definitely we respect a lot the emotion in India because this is a horrific catastrophe," Rogge said. "While we totally understand the emotions and the grief, one has to say that Dow Chemical was not involved in the Bhopal issue." Activists say 25,000 people died in the immediate aftermath of the accident and in ensuing years, and about 100,000 people who were exposed to the gas continue to suffer today from ailments that range from cancer and blindness to birth defects. "We have advised the IOA to enter into a dialogue with their athletes and this is what they will do. I would hope the interest of sport and interest of the athletes will prevail," he said. "Every measure calling for a boycott is a measure that is hurting Indian sport and I am glad to say that there is no intention at the level of the IOA to consider such actions." Havelange probe shelved The IOC has shelved an investigation into former Fifa head Joao Havelange after he resigned as an IOC member just days before an ethics hearing into his conduct, Rogge said. Havelange, 95, head of football's world governing body from 1974 to 1998, was under an IOC investigation for his alleged links to Fifa's former marketing agency, International Sport and Leisure (ISL), amid allegations of corruption. Brazilian Havelange, an IOC member for 48 years, sent a letter of resignation to Rogge as the IOC's executive board was preparing to meet to discuss the ethics commission's findings into three members, including Havelange, over their role in the corruption affair that rocked the world of sport. "Havelange sent me a letter saying that he had lately had health issues and he considered that due to his age and health it stopped him from travelling regularly," Rogge said in an exclusive interview.