Olympic Spirit Fading as Russia Steps Up Anti-Gay Quest on Athletes?

The Olympic Spirit, which is "to build a peaceful and better world which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play," hangs on a balance next 2014. Gay international athletes bound to compete for the honor of their respective countries in the 2014 Olympics in Russia will be specifically targeted as the country steps up its anti-gay quest.

On Thursday, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said there won't be a ban on gay athletes coming into the country in 2014, unless they otherwise exhibit behaviour that is no longer part of the agenda of the games.

"An athlete of nontraditional sexual orientation isn't banned from coming to Sochi," Mr Mutko told R-Sport, the sports newswire of state news agency RIA Novosti. "But if he goes out into the streets and starts to propagandize, then of course he will be held accountable."

Still, the International Olympic Committee maintained it will continue to hold on to assurances earlier promised by a different Russian state official concerning the lives and welfare of foreign gay athletes while competing for the Olympics.

"We rest with comments made directly to us by deputy PM Kozak," Mark Adams, IOC spokesman, told USA Today, referring to Russian Deputy Prime Minster Dmitry Kozak.

Russian President Vladimir Putin approved just in June a law punishing foreign citizens found guilty of propagandizing homosexuality or nontraditional sexual orientation in Russia. Convicted gay foreign citizens will be fined up to 100,000 rubles ($3,000), jailed for up to 15 days, deported and then denied reentry into Russia.

"The corresponding law doesn't forbid non-traditional orientation, but other things: propaganda, involvement of minors and young people," Mr Mutko said.

The global Human Rights Watch expressed concern for the global gay athletes once they enter Russia in 2014.

"Instead of listening to Russia's hollow assurances, IOC president Jacques Rogge should stand up for the Olympic charter's commitment to promoting human dignity and insist that the Russian government immediately takes steps to repeal the law and, in the meantime, refrains from implementing it," the group wrote on its Web site.

The mission of the Olympic Spirit, as defined, is "to build a peaceful and better world in the Olympic Spirit which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play - Olympic Spirit strives to inspire and motivate the youth of the world to be the best they can be through educational and entertaining interactive challenges. Olympic Spirit seeks to instill and develop the values and ideals of Olympism in those who visit and to promote tolerance and understanding in these increasingly troubled time in which we live, to make our world a more peaceful place."

A number of foreign global politicians have joined in the fray to remind Russia to go easy on its anti-gay manhunt.

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is worried Russia's controversial new anti-gay law could lead to violence as it is already inciting hate among its detractors.

"Under the new law, the mere act of publically acknowledging one's sexuality or displaying rainbow flags could be deemed punishable offenses under the statute," U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in his letter to Russian Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak.

"Such a law is clearly inconsistent with, and contradictory to, the International Olympic Committee's Charter."