Danish MPs ask IOC to let Greenland, Faroes compete under own flag

Denmark’s parliament said Tuesday it had asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow athletes from its autonomous territories Greenland and the Faroe Islands to compete under their own flags at the Olympic Games.

“These are countries with strong and independent sporting identities. The (Danish parliament’s) presidium wants to support a cause that is very important to the athletes from the Faroe Islands and Greenland who dream of competing on the biggest international stage under their own flags,” speaker of the Danish parliament, Soren Gade, said in a statement.

The statement noted that both Greenland and the Faroe Islands were already members of a number of international sporting federations, including the International Handball Federation, while the Faroe Islands were also a full member of both the European football association UEFA and the international football association FIFA.

In a letter sent to the IOC dated June 18, the Danish parliament recognised that since 1996, the IOC has generally limited admission to territories recognised by the international community as independent states.

“At the same time, it remains relevant that exceptions to this practice continue to exist, in that a number of territories – including Aruba, Bermuda and Puerto Rico –  participate under their own flags on the basis of recognition granted before the policy was adopted in 1996,” it said.

It noted that the Faroe Islands had applied for admission in 1983, before the 1996 rule change.