Sikhs claim religious discrimination in France swung it for London 2012

6 July 2005

We are delighted with the decision to award London the 2012 Summer Olympics. This is not only a great result for London and the UK, but a victory for those that value religious freedoms.

We issued a press release yesterday to suggest that the laws and practices in France, which discriminate against those that wish to freely practice their faith may lead to the downfall of the Paris bid and that London would be the natural beneficiary from any IOC members that listen to our concerns.

We specifically targeted around 45 of the IOC members who are from countries where religion is of paramount importance. Whilst there would have been a complex inter-play of issues affecting the result, we are firmly of the view that some IOC members were influenced with what we had to say. We said yesterday that one or two votes could make all the difference.

We have passed on our thanks to Randhir Singh, a Sikh IOC member who wears a turban and was well aware of our campaign. Randhir Singh knows of the importance of the Sikh identity and the outward expressions of individual faith is one of the most basic and precious freedoms for a Sikh. We have little doubt he used his influence so France was sent a clear message that it must get rid of its discriminatory laws before it is worthy of holding the Olympics.