An expert warned Thursday that racism, xenophobia, discrimination and other forms of intolerance are embedded throughout professional sports.
Dr. Ashwani KPThe UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racismsubmitted their report to the Human Rights Council, proverb that “sport has the extraordinary ability to bring people together… However, sport is not isolated from society” but “reflects the same structural inequalities and historical injustices that continue to shape people’s lives.”
The report examined modern forms of racism and other intolerance in sport, analyze “How structural inequalities, discriminatory regulations, racist incidents, underrepresentation in sports administration, conflict and socioeconomic exclusion impact the participation in sport and the experiences of marginalized racial and ethnic groups.” It also discussed the “international human rights framework,” the “duties of States and other actors,” and the “urgent need for coordinated, human rights-based and intersectional approaches,” and made numerous recommendations.
Specific Examples Discrimination across sport included “high costs of participation,” “restrictions on Palestinian athletes,” and “bans on Muslim women wearing hijabs.”
Regarding the international human rights framework, Dr. Ashwani KP explained that the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) decides in its report a “comprehensive ban on all forms of racism, which applies to all areas of sport and to all manifestations of racism”. Accordingly, “States that are Parties to the (ICERD) are committed to striving for the achievement of a national and international community free from all forms of racism,” so that these “States must ensure that all racial and ethnic groups enjoy the full extent of their rights in the context of sport.”
The Special Rapporteur concluded that:
Ultimately, eliminating racism in sport and realizing its potential as a force for positive change requires transformative change and a partnership between multiple stakeholders. It calls for coordinated action by states, sports governing bodies, private sector actors, civil society and the international community. Efforts must move beyond symbolic gestures and reactive measures to comprehensive strategies that address root causes, redistribute opportunities, and dismantle entrenched power imbalances and racial hierarchies.
Their recommendations include collecting relevant “racial and ethnic disaggregated data,” investing in equitable access to “sports infrastructure, programs and training,” and working “with sports governing bodies on equity, diversity and inclusion.”
This report reflects a speech from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk last July, where he called on Member States to “make greater efforts to close the gender gap in sport and promote the rights of female athletes”.
The UN Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council specified: “Only by dismantling the legacies of exclusion and discrimination can sport develop its potential as a force for dignity, justice, inclusion and social change.”
