EU against Olympic boycott

Brussels: European Union nations and Olympic committees said Monday they opposed a boycott of the Beijing Games over China's handling of the Tibet protests.

The EU sports ministers and Olympic committees said sports should not be linked to such a political issue and that previous Olympic boycotts had already shown what limited impact they have.

''Under no circumstance will we support the boycott. We are 100 percent unanimous,'' Patrick Hickey, the head of the European Olympic Committees said in an interview with the Associated Press.

''Not one government leader has called for a boycott. A boycott is only a punishment of the athletes,'' he said at the meeting.