News Stories - International Olympic Committee to help Iraqis
The Iraq Olympic Committee was dissolved following an IOC investigation into accusations against Saddam Hussein's son Uday. He was alleged to have tortured and jailed athletes at his headquarters in Baghdad when he was president of the National Olympic Committee.

The IOC said no one involved in the abuses should be part of the new structure.

Earlier this month the IOC sent a delegation to Iraq to assess the situation. The visit included meetings with the sports ministry of the coalition forces' provisional authority and a United Nations representative.

Further discussions have identified the need for the athletes to be helped by funding from the Olympic movement. Top level athletes will be selected for training and advised which international competitions they should attend.

The longer-term incentive is to enable some of the athletes to take part in next year's Olympic Games in Athens.
 
- vocabulary:
dissolved: formally ended, dismissed or broken up
investigation: a process where you examine facts to discover the truth
alleged: if you allege that something is true, then you say it but don't prove it
tortured: to torture means to cause great pain to either punish someone or get information from them
involved in the abuses: here - those who took part in torturing athletes

to assess the situation: to see how things are

 

 

attend: take part in

incentive: something that encourages you to do something
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