LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Iran's National Olympic Committee hinted Monday it could boycott the London Summer Olympics because its official logo looks like the word "Zion."
The Iranian group contended in a letter to International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge that the jagged, abstract representation of the numerals 2012 was "racist" because it resembled the biblical term for Jerusalem, the BBC reported.
Bahram Afsharzadeh, the secretary-general of Iran's Olympic committee, also urged other Muslim states to oppose the logo.
"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," Afsharzadeh wrote.
"The London 2012 logo represents the figure 2012, nothing else," a statement from the IOC countered.
The BBC reported London Organizing Committee members expressed surprise that the Iranian complaint comes nearly four years after the logo was unveiled.
