Praha - Despite the prevailing problems with human rights record in China and recent unrest in Tibet, more than four fifths of Czechs agree to Czech athletes´ presence at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

These are the results of the latests poll conducted by Empirica that took place at the end of March. The poll surveyed 801 respondents of 18 and above years old.

A definite ´yes´ to the Czech athletes´ attendance said 48 per cent of respondents. Around 36 per cent Czechs answered "why not".

Eleven per cent respondents gave "no", while every twentieth citizen is absolutely against the athletes presence in Beijing. 

The survey shows that Czechs who enjoy watching sports on TV support the Czech Republic´s sports representation at the Olympics more intensely.

There was no significant difference among female and male respondents. 83 per cent of women support Czech athletes in Beijing, whereas it is only 81 per cent of men that would like to see them competing for Olympic medals this summer.

The biggest support of the athletes in Beijing was found among the communist voters. The communist regime in China is clearly an evident factor playing a key role for the communist voters.

The second biggest group of people saying ´yes´ to Czechs in Beijing are social democrats.

The most critical were voters of the Green Party, which is caused by the Greens being the most active against Chinese human rights record.