IOC officials refuse to challenge Russia's anti-gay law Fury: Police detain a gay rights activist in Moscow. Moscow: The International Olympic Committee has said it has no grounds to challenge a Russian law widely perceived as anti-gay, angering gay rights and human rights activists, who say they will make their case with sponsors and governments taking part in the Sochi Winter Olympics. On a final inspection tour before the opening ceremony in February, IOC chairman Jean-Claude Killy declared himself satisfied with the situation in Russia "as long as the Olympic charter is respected." The charter describes sport as a human right and rejects discrimination. He pronounced the venues ready and predicted a fabulous Olympics. "The IOC doesn't really have the right to discuss the laws in the country where the Olympic Games are organised," Mr Killy said. As long as the Olympic charter is respected, we are satisfied and that is the case. Rights advocates said they were furious but not surprised at the IOC's unwillingness to wrangle with Russia, which is hosting the Games for the first time since 1980 and spending $US50 million ($53.3 million) to do so, the most expensive Olympics yet. Andrew Miller, a member of the New York chapter of Queer Nation, said the IOC had capitulated to a repressive regime. "It has sold out the lesbian and gay community in Russia, when it could have been a powerful force for their protection," he said. All Out, an organisation based in New York that advocates for equality around the world, said it intends to urge its members to pressure sponsors and governments - what it calls the economic engine behind the Games - to defend the Olympic anti-discrimination principle. "If the IOC is unwilling to protect the values of the Olympic Movement," All Out executive director Andre Banks said, "then athletes, sponsors, fans and participating governments must speak out and defend the integrity of the Games." The group collected more than 300,000 signatures for a statement urging the IOC to criticise the Russian law and delivered the petition to IOC headquarters last month. The Russian law clearly violates the Olympic charter, said Ty Cobb, director of global engagement for the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington civil rights organisation dedicated to ending discrimination against the LGBT community. He plans to mobilise members, estimated at 2 million across the US, to express their displeasure. "We're going to call on our members and on sponsors to say the IOC has to change this," he said. President Vladimir Putin - who fought hard to win the Olympics for Sochi - signed the law that prohibits discussing "non-traditional" sexual relationships in the presence of minors or suggesting that such relationships are equal to "traditional" ones. The law is ambiguous enough that teachers are afraid to utter the word "homosexual" in their classrooms. Gays and lesbians in the US say it also has encouraged homophobia and violence. Russian officials counter that it is meant only to protect children. But officials have interpreted it in different ways. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, assigned to oversee the Games, told Russian news agencies this northern summer that the law would have no effect on the Olympics. "There will be no diminishing of rights based on sexual orientation at the Olympics, neither before nor after," he said. No one should have any concerns whatsoever. People can get on with their private lives, and spread their respective advantages and attraction among adults. The main thing is that this doesn't touch children. However, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told a Ria Novosti sports reporter that athletes or anyone else "propagandising" gay relationships in Sochi would be "held accountable." Mr Miller said the IOC was giving cover to sponsors by saying there were no problems with Russian law. "They are saying everything is fine and there is no reason to take issue with the Russian government's stance on human rights," he said. All Out targeted one sponsor last month, with members gathering under a Coke sign in Times Square and dumping bottles of Coke into the sewer, he said. The law most probably would not be enforced against foreigners in Sochi, said Innokenty Grekov, an associate of Human Rights First, an international group based in New York and Washington, but would be used to limit the freedoms of gay Russians in clear violation of the Olympic Charter.