Foregrounding a Rights-Based Agenda for Sport Events

Sport is often positioned as a social good across policy agendas, related to creating or strengthening communities (Spaaij, Oxford and Jeanes 2016), addressing disadvantage (Sherry 2010; Spaaij and Jeanes 2013), tackling mental health (Jeanes, Spaaij and Magee 2019; Smith et al. 2015) and addressing physical health and chronic disease. However, sport has also been understood as contributing to, and at times exacerbating inequalities and human rights infringements which open up questions as to the efficacy of the social good argument. In this symposium, we explore the value of a rights-based agenda for the bidding, planning, delivery and legacy of major and mega sport events, drawing on expertise from the EU-funded EventRights project. We draw on experience from academics, policy makers and sport practitioners across five panel sessions, each with a focus on a different dimension of sport events and human rights.

13:00-13:45:

Keynote: Legal Responsibilities for Mega Sport Events and Human Rights: Setting the Scene:

• In this opening address Dr Daniela Heerdt, researcher at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut and independent consultant in the field of sport and human rights will set the scene for how human rights responsibilities are currently being enshrined in mega event arrangements

Panel discussions

13:45-14:30: Sport Events, Governance and Advocacy

Moderated by Dr Jason Bocarro, (North Carolina State University, USA)

Governance is one of the most pressing issues facing sport organisations and event awarding bodies in relation to human rights. The Centre for Sport and Human Rights (CSHR) has said that those in sport leadership positions need to strengthen their individual and collective commitments towards the prevention and mitigation of harm. Mega sport events, and their awarding bodies, including the Olympic Games (IOC), FIFA World Cup (FIFA) and Commonwealth Games (CGF) have been under pressure to strengthen their commitments to human rights in policy and practice. Awarding bodies have developed human rights policies and guidelines for prospective hosts to follow when bidding for their events. However, once the mega sport event is awarded, there has, to date, been little ongoing scrutiny as to whether bid commitments were followed through on as part of the planning and delivery processes. In this panel we consider how human rights commitments can be effectively embedded in the governance arrangements for major and mega sport events.

Panelists:

Professor David McGillivray, (University of the West of Scotland)

Liz Twyford, (UNICEF)

Andreas Graf, (FIFA)

Sylvia Schenk, (Transparency International)

14:30-15:15: Sport Events and Athlete Rights:

Moderated by Prof David McGillivray (University of the West of Scotland)

The protection and promotion of human rights is a topic that generates support from many Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They do not only provide support outside of the context of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (e.g., via donations, fundraising, and raising their voice in press conferences) but also within the context of the Games itself (e.g., when athletes are introduced just before their competition, during the competition, and during the medal ceremony). The International Olympic Committee (IOC, 2021) responded to calls to give athletes a more powerful voice by introducing revised Rule 50.2 Guidelines for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. These guidelines aimed to make sure that the apolitical neutrality of sport and the Games was maintained. While the guidelines gave athletes some room to express their views (e.g., in mixed zones, via their own social media accounts), they also restated that expressions were not permitted (i) during official ceremonies (including Olympic medal ceremonies, opening and closing ceremonies), (ii) during competition on the field of play, (iii) in the Olympic village” (IOC, 2021, p. 3). In this panel, we discuss the current athlete rights situation and the role of athlete activism in influencing awarding bodies and other sport organisations.

Panelists:

Professor Joerg Koenigstorfer, (Technical University Munich)

Dr Yannick Kluch, (Virginia Commonwealth University)

Professor Laura Misener, (Western University, Canada)

Kaveh Mehrabi, Director of the IOC Athletes’ Department

15:15-16:00: Sport events and disability rights

Moderated by Professor Laura Misener, Western University, Canada)

People with disabilities form the largest minority group globally at roughly one-fifth of the world’s population. As a group they also suffer exclusion from and discrimination within society. The Paralympic Games are now the second largest multi-sport competition on earth after the Olympic Games and the overall vision of the International Paralympic Committee is to make for an inclusive world through Para sport (IPC Strategic Plan 2019-2022). Whilst it has been shown that sport can have a positive impact upon the physical, mental (health) and social aspects of people with disabilities lives (c.f. Specht et al., 2002) the claims that the Paralympic Games, and Paralympians in particular, can positively change societal attitudes towards people with disabilities have been challenged by a number of academics. Brittain and Beacom (2016) claim that by making Paralympians the “norm” by which all other people with disabilities are measured simply further isolates those who are unable or simply do not wish to take part in sport and reinforces ableist perspectives of their capabilities. This is not to say the potential for the Paralympic Games to positively impact upon the lives of people with disabilities should be ignored as the media coverage now achieved by these Games is such that they form an amazing platform from which to begin debates around the issues of how people with disabilities are treated by the wider society and to raise awareness of the potential negative impacts this can have upon their lives.

Panelists:

Dr Ian Brittain (Coventry University)

Professor Gayle McPherson (University of the West of Scotland)

Miki Matheson, Paralympian

16:00-16:45: Sport Events, Human Trafficking and Sex Work

Moderated by Professor Joerg Koenigstorfer,(Technical University Munich, Germany)

This panel provides both an academic and practical examination of the relationship between sports events, human trafficking and sex work (Amnesty International, 2022). We also present insights around the global campaigns delivered by It’s a Penalty (https://itsapenalty.org) who work with event owners and host destinations to prevent abuse, exploitation and human trafficking. For clarity, the United Nations (UN) defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation (UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 2004). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) through to FIFA, the Commonwealth Games Federation to the Super Bowl have identified tackling this agenda as a central objective over this decade. Owners of major events have produced specific reports (e.g., Recommendations for an IOC Human Rights Strategy (2020), as well as embedding UN Sustainable Development Goals into the operational protocol documents hosts must consider). In addition, Sustainable Sourcing Codes have become an integral part of most major events governance over the last decade (Timms, 2012, p.65), recognising the dangers of labour exploitation in the complex global production networks that facilitate events. We take a balanced and critical perspective, examining how major events are double edged swords: Presenting both the evidence for the role of major events for exacerbating such human rights abuses, whilst also recognise the role they play in tackling everyday systemic human trafficking related issues at the destination level too.

Panelists:

Dr Michael Duignan, (University of Surrey)

Philippa King (Director), (It’s a Penalty)

Dr Amanda De Lisio, (York University)

16:45: Closing remarks and future work

This event is sponsored by Frontiers Sport and Active Living. Participants are encouraged to submit manuscripts to a Research Topic on Sport Events and Human Rights that will launch at the event.