Washington has been working on a plan to entice and instigate athletes participating in the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics to create disturbances during the Games in order to politicize the international sports event, sources familiar with the matter told China Daily on Friday.

The sources said that the plan attempts to incite athletes from various countries to express their discontent toward China, play passively in the competitions and even flatly refuse to take part in the competitions.

In return, the sources said Washington will offer a large sum of compensation to the athletes involved in carrying out the plan, and will also mobilize global resources to "protect" the "personal reputation" of athletes who choose to play in such a passive manner.

The sources stressed that Washington's plan is a new example demonstrating attempts by some anti-China forces in the United States to politicize sports and maliciously disrupt and spoil the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

It lays bare the fact that anti-China forces in the US are sheer troublemakers with regard to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and the International Olympic Movement, the sources said.

The sources pointed out that anti-China forces in the US are trying to buy off athletes to encourage them to do something that is not allowed in their capacity or not related to sports competitions, which goes against the spirit and stipulations of the Olympic Charter, and will also seriously undermine the athletes' legitimate rights and interests as well as the international Olympic cause.

The plot by anti-China forces to use the athletes as a tool of political manipulation is more than malicious and dirty, and will undoubtedly be cast aside by the international community and athletes from around the world, the sources said, adding that their attempts are doomed to fail.