Two British Olympians have revealed their membership of a pressure group aiming to embarrass China about its tacit support of human rights abuses in Africa.

Richard Vaughan, the country’s top badminton player, and Shelley Rudman, Britain’s only medal winner at the last Winter Olympics, have publicly signed up to Team Darfur, a group urging China to use its leverage with Sudan to hasten an end to the Darfur crisis.

A further eight British athletes, as yet unidentified, are members of the 205-strong group which hopes to use press conferences and possible podium appearances in Beijing this summer to protest about China’s engagement with the regime in Khartoum.

But the athletes’ involvement with such a politically sensitive issue has raised concerns that their Olympic ambitions may be jeopardised. Vaughan, who represented Britain at the last two Olympics, said last night that he feared he would miss out on selection because of his involvement.

“British Badminton will think I’m just trying to cause trouble,” he said. “They want to keep their jobs, they want to look good so they’ll toe the line. I think I can kiss my funding goodbye.”

His comments come after a revelation this weekend about the “gagging order” issued by the British Olympic Association (BOA), which all members of the British team would be obliged to sign. The BOA has since suggested a softer rewording of the clause that athletes “are not to comment on any politically sensitive issues” but Vaughan was scathing about what he said was a culture in British Olympic sport where athletes feel they have to watch what they say.

He said that “trying to bully athletes into not saying things is not the right way”. He added: “I appreciate it’s a difficult position for the British Olympic Committee, but it’s very tough to keep a polite silence about a conflict that continues to cost so many lives.”

Other countries, notably Canada and Australia, have been quite clear about their intention to give their athletes complete freedom of speech.

Nikki Dryden, a Canadian swimmer and a member of Team Darfur, said yesterday: “I’m very proud that Canada has taken the decision to respect the athletes. The idea is that we should allow the athletes to make these decisions on their own and in the UK, it seems, they haven’t.”

Vaughan, however, has come to terms with the idea that, if he is to go to his third Olympics, then he might have to make a compromise and stay silent on Darfur. “If it means the difference between being selected and not,” he said, “then I would probably sign the contract. That is not ideal at all. However, the contracts won’t get signed until June or July so I can say what I want to until then.”

Vaughan is competing in the Netherlands today, missing a procession in which mock Olympic torches are carried between the Sudanese and Chinese embassies in London.

Similar events are taking place in capital cities around the world. Elsewhere there will be athletes in attendance, but organisers in Britain believe that none will join the march in London for fear of politicising themselves.

Team Darfur was an initiative started by Joey Cheek, the American speed-skater, who won notoriety at the Turin Olympics not because he won a gold medal but because he used his press conference afterwards to talk about Darfur, to announce that he would donate his $25,000 (£12,500) medal bonus to a charity for Darfur refugees and to challenge sponsors to follow suit. It is his hope that a number of athletes will follow his lead. Many may simply wear Team Darfur wristbands. “I would love to have several hundred more athletes in Team Darfur by Beijing,” he said, “and I see no reason why we can’t recruit a few hundred more.

“So much of the Olympic charter is about brotherhood and achieving something greater through sport; it’s pretty lofty language. It seems hypocritical for people within the Olympic movement to say ‘We believe in human rights’ and then take no action.”

Podium protests

1956 Melbourne Games
Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands boycotted the Games in protest at the Soviet Union’s invasion of Hungary. The water polo match between the Soviet and Hungarian teams was abandoned after a brawl broke out. Several Arab nations boycotted the Games in the wake of the Suez crisis.

1968 Mexico City Games
Tommie Smith and John Carlos, right, both black Americans, won gold and bronze respectively in the 200 metres at the Mexico City Games in 1968, during the tumult of the civil rights era. On the podium, each bowed his head and raised a gloved hand, providing one of the era’s most iconic images. Peter Norman, the white Australian silver-medallist, wore a badge in sympathy with the American pair.

1976 Montreal Games
Several African countries boycotted the Games because New Zealand, whose rugby team had recently played South Africa, was not excluded, despite the apartheid-era ban.

1980 Moscow Games
The US led a boycott of the Games, ostensibly in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Britain and Australia backed the boycott, but allowed athletes to choose.

1984 Los Angeles Games
The Soviet Union retaliated by refusing to travel to the US.

2000 Sydney Games
Aboriginal campaign groups used the 2000 Sydney Games to attract attention to the “Stolen Generation” of Aborigine children taken from their parents.

Source: Times database

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