The Board of Directors of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) observed a minute's silence at its meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, to honor the 11 victims of the Munich massacre at the 1972 Olympics.
The president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, who was last week at the Fürstenfeldbruck air force base in Munich, where nine members of the Israeli delegation were murdered 50 years ago, described that day as "the darkest day in Olympic history."
"What began with peace and joy at the Olympic Games ended in unimaginable suffering," said the IOC president.
"We share the pain of the relatives of the 11 Israeli victims and the German policeman."
"To this day, this barbaric attack fills us with horror, shame and disgust. This pain is deeper because those loved ones lost their lives at the Olympic Games. They had so much time to take part in this peaceful competition with athletes from all over the world. This attack was also an attack on the Games the Olympians and on the Olympic values".
The special meeting in Lausanne.
The minute of silence commemorates those murdered in Munich,
The IOC president also addressed the minute's silence for the victims of the Munich massacre held at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games for the first time in Tokyo 2020. Bach also praised the Olympic Committee of Israel for its continued involvement in the Games.
"The murdered members of the Israeli Olympic team will remain part of our Olympic movement," said Bach.
"Despite this terrible loss, neither the relatives nor the Israeli National Olympic Committee turned their backs on the games.
"Israeli athletes actually participated in all subsequent Olympic Games, so we stand together, united in our memory, but also in our commitment, the peace mission of the Olympic Games. In this way, we show that the values of human solidarity and peace are stronger than all the forces of hatred and division."
The official events will continue next month, when on September 21 there will also be a large commemorative event in Israel with the participation of Bach and the country's president Yitzhak Herzog.
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