Iran threatens Olympic boycott over logo design

Now I know what I think about the Olympics.  I begrudge the Olympic levy that my husband and I pay towards it every month.  I hate the way east London has been dug up and east Londoners displaced to accomodate it. That none of these 'new jobs' have gone to anybody I know. I dread the disruption to be expected next year. That we will not be allowed to move freely because of the privileged routes solely allocated for officials and competitors, not just in London but at peripheral events outside the city. I think the mascots are tacky and the logo is ugly and surely my money could have gone to someone who can actually design. But I don't hate it as much as the Iranians.

Iran has threatened to boycott the London 2012 Olympics unless organisers agree to change the design of the logo.

The Iranian government has lodged a formal protest with the International Olympic Committee over the four-year-old logo, claiming that it must be changed since it spells out the word 'Zion'.

And the Middle Eastern nation has warned that it will order its athletes to stay at home next summer unless the logo is replaced and its creators asked to explain themselves.

"As internet documents have proved, using the word Zion in the logo of the 2012 Olympic Games is a disgracing action and against the Olympics' valuable mottos," the Iranian government wrote in a letter to the IOC, which was released via the state-backed Iranian Students Agency. "There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the Games, especially Iran which abides by commitment to the values and principles."

It's not the first time that the logo has been at the centre of an unusual complaint: it has been heavily criticised ever since first being unveiled in 2007, and has been compared to everything from a swastika to a stylised image of two people making love.     An IOC official confirmed that the letter had been received, but insisted that the logo "represents the figure 2012, nothing else" 

 If the Iranians hate it because they see the word "Zion" then it can't be all bad.

When the Lord builds up Zion again, and shows himself in his glory. Psalm 102.16.