The Olympics aren’t cheap. At least if you’re a competitor.
Earlier this year, taekwondo athlete Logan Campbell had to open a brothel in New Zealand to raise the upwards of $300,000 necessary to compete in the coming 2012 London games. His father, an auctioneer, was forced to work two jobs last year to help finance Campbell’s $120,000 expedition to Beijing, where he placed in the top 16 for the featherweight division.
But unwilling to continue placing a financial burden on his parents, the enterprising athlete and his 20-year-old kiwi business partner, Hugo Phillips, opened up a brothel in Auckland as a fundraising venture.
Now three months later, the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) has dropped the hammer, issuing Campbell a cease-and-desist letter, threatening to sue if he continued linking the Olympics brand with this apparently unsavory and unwholesome activity: “Your open solicitation of ‘clients’ for your ‘business’ while using the Olympic or Olympian connection must cease immediately,” said the letter, signed by NZOC Secretary General Barry Maister, “or the NZOC will be forced to consider taking legal action against you.”
Prostitution is legal in New Zealand, and the laws surrounding the trade are some of the most progressive in the world. Yet when Campbell opened the establishment in July, New Zealand’s taekwondo funding manager John Schofield stated that Campbell’s move would be taken under review, adding, “Selection takes into account not just performance but also the athlete’s ability to serve as an example to the youth of the country.”
Turning tricks to fund a good cause? Some might argue that Campbell – with his entrepreneurial spirit and determination to compete in the Olympics at whatever cost – is setting an excellent example for young New Zealanders by opening his ”gentlemen’s club.” Others might beg to differ. Regardless, in response to the Olympic Committee’s disdain for his extra curricular activities, Campbell is defending his position, threatening his own legal action.
“At the end of the day, I feel like I’m not exploiting anyone because no one has to be here,” Campbell told the TV3 network after receiving the committee’s letter. “We are not forcing anyone to be here. They are here of their own free will.”
Fair enough, even if it’s doubtful that Campbell’s defiance of the Olympic Committee will win him any medals. However, women’s rights advocates just gained a new high-profile ally in the battle toward decriminalizing the world’s oldest profession.
Photo courtesy digibard via Flickr.
