A/HRC/30/50
33.
Global or mega sporting events like the Olympic Games or the Fédération
Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup receive special national and
international attention owing to their role in advancing human rights and well-known wider
economic, social and cultural agenda. The global dimension and increasing ratings of major
competitions can contribute to the perception that modern sport is a universal facilitator of
general humanitarian ideas and approaches addressed to all mankind. From a human rights
perspective, recent controversies about the balance between related opportunities and risks
have renewed fundamental questions about the social opportunity costs of hosting mega
sporting events and the responsibilities of host Governments, and international sporting
governing bodies, which set the terms for staging these kinds of events.10 Sporting events
can raise human rights questions, and human rights instruments and practices should be
observed in their organization as for all human activity. A scholar discourse continues on
failures to strike a fair balance between celebrating humanity and market manipulation.11
34.
Major sporting events can be used as a catalyst to implement child protective
strategies and strengthen cooperation among various stakeholders to mitigate potential
harm. There is a need to involve and build partnerships with key stakeholders, such as the
International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, international
sporting federations, host countries and businesses. Organizers of such events should
include an impact assessment of human rights, including children’s rights, in the bidding
criteria. For instance, the “Children Win” project of the non-governmental organizations
ECPAT and Terre des Hommes calls for a revision of the bidding processes of major
sporting events, to include at all stages of the assessment the risk mitigation measures and
positive effects. Compliance with human rights principles and standards should become a
basic criterion for countries and cities to be eligible as hosts of major sporting events. In
this regard, the elaboration of a framework on “sporting and human rights” similar to that
on “business and human rights” may prove to be effective in defining the scope of the
human rights responsibilities of all actors involved in sporting events and in exploring ways
for them to be accountable for the impact of their activities on human rights.
F.
Business, public-private partnerships on human rights and sport
35.
Sport makes it possible to create synergies between public and private sectors in a
concrete and effective manner, even in vulnerable areas, and can engage international
corporations and foreign suppliers or industries by making them aware of their social and
local responsibility. Labour, employment, health and safety in the management of sporting
activities require compliance with employment standards as expressed in the International
Labour Organization (ILO) fundamental conventions along with, where appropriate, other
local initiatives. ILO conventions set out a “social floor” in the world of employment and
provide for the elimination of all forms of compulsory or forced labour and the effective
abolition of child labour. Accountability and transparency and complaint mechanisms
provide the necessary guarantees against human rights abuses of licensees, including child
labour, excessive working hours and abuses of health and safety laws in the supply
chains.10 Some researchers have also called for social responsibility to become a pillar of
10
11
See Institute for Human Rights and Business, “Striving for Excellence: Mega-Sporting Events and
Human Rights” (London, October 2013). Available from www.ihrb.org/pdf/2013-1021_IHRB_Mega-Sporting-Events-Paper_Web.pdf.
See J. Maguire et al, “Olympic Legacies in the OIC’s ʻCelebrate Humanityʼ campaign: Ancient or
Modern?”; and J.A. Mangan, “Prologue: Guarantees of Global Goodwill: Post-Olympic Legacies —
Too Many Limping White Elephants?”, International Journal of the History of Sport, Vol. 25, No. 14
(December 2008).
9
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