Spy Gate: Beijing Edition

So much to talk about today. Dissenters are being arrested in China as the Olympics steadily approach. Chinese officials first reneged on a promise to keep an open internet for the Games. Then they balked on that, keeping restrictions on website like Amnesty International. Then they balked on that plan, lifting restrictions on several sites, but still no full freedoms for media at the Olympics on the internet.

And then there's spying. Sure, the authoritarian government in China will spy on guests. Yeah, it's an invasion of basic human rights. But it's China and they're probably going to get away with it.

What I think is a little bit scarier, especially for these Olympic Games, is the integrity of the sports and competitions being held in Beijing. China hosted the Women's World Cup last year, sort of a preparation for the Chinese government for their big day.

And on the eve of the Olympic football tournament, it turns out that the Chinese were spying on its opponents, or at least one. Denmark may have lost 3-2 to the Chinese last year, but the bigger loser is FIFA, who did absolutely nothing, as they said that their investigation in the spying incident in Denmark's prep room as "non-sport related."

Bullshit. So, we can't punish the Chinese for violating human rights (maybe the U.N. will want to sanction them or something, but like Chinese officials care).

But in the world of sport, where national athletic federations are held accountable by world governing bodies like FIFA and FINA and the IOC, then I sure as hell hope when cheating happens, they come swift with a penalty.

That didn't happen at last year's World Cup. FIFA let it slide and in my opinion, the integrity of the Games may be in jeopardy.

This may not effect the individual sports as much at this year's Games, but it sure as hell effects the team sports. There is so much strategy and planning that goes into competitions involving two teams. Spying on a team can give it quite the advantage over an opponent.

Yes, teams still need to execute and perform, but when they know when and how to execute and perform based on information gathered through espionage, it ruins the game.

Let's hope that the IOC has put in place systems to prevent this type of cheating. Because if it hasn't, then Denmark won't be the only one who is robbed. The fans will be robbed of what true athletic competition should be all about.