BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said he opposed calls for a boycott of the Summer Games in Beijing over China's crackdown in Tibet, saying it would only penalize athletes.

"We believe that the boycott doesn't solve anything," Rogge told reporters on this Caribbean island. "On the contrary. It is penalizing innocent athletes and it is stopping the organization from something that definitely is worthwhile organizing."