Mega-Sporting Events: How do Human Rights Come into Play? And What does it Mean for Business?

The Exceptionality and Vulnerabilities of Global Sport

• Sport generates major economic activity (events, sponsorships, broadcasting), yet the sector is characterized by the passion it generates–this may distort decision-making, governance and accountability.

• Leadership structures are often narrow, centralized, and opaque. Coaches, officials and executives may wield disproportionate power over players and staff.

• Governments often avoid intervening in sports governance for fear of public backlash, and lack of regulation can create a fertile ground for corruption, discrimination, and safeguarding failures.

• While the upside of sport is heralded, there are costs which live in the shadows. Abuse cases (e.g., Afghanistan women’s team) highlight systemic failures and can inflict lifelong harm on individuals when governance and protections are weak.
  

Recent Development in Sport and Human Rights

• Rise of the UNGPs at the same time as growing exposure of abuses and corruption scandals connected to sport, including: evictions, excessive policing, labour exploitation,  harms connected to major events in China, Brazil, Russia, and Qatar.
• Early good practice experiments: London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 pioneered human-rights-based approaches.

• With the establishment of CSHR Mary Robinson promoted a multi-stakeholder approach and the ‘Ruggie Report’ for FIFA established that FIFA, as a business enterprise, has human rights responsibilities.
• The ecosystem model by CSHR maps the full range of sports stakeholders. CSHR acts as trusted convener, advisor, and technical partner and engages all stakeholders involved.

Why Mega-Sporting Events Are Key Intervention Points

• Staging mega-events is the most commercially intensive function of sports bodies, which demonstrates clear applicability of UNGP human rights due diligence.

• With enormous global audiences, political attention, and sponsor scrutiny, failures to comply with international human rights standards may become global scandals

• Convening power and a regular event cycle (every 2–4 years) allow incremental raising of standards.
• Bid-process reforms can be replicated and strengthened over time.

Sport and Human Rights Due Diligence in Practice

• Since 2017, major federations including FIFA, IOC, UEFA, and the Commonwealth Games Federation have adopted human rights policies, with growing adoption by regional and national federations (e.g., European Athletics, German Olympic Committee, German FA).

• Paris 2024 (IOC) and EURO 2024 (UEFA) were the first to embed human rights in bid requirements from the outset, and FIFA 2026 is the first FIFA event with human rights embedded at the bid stage.

• Policies and commitments exist, but implementation and execution remain uneven, revealing weakness in risk assessment quality, stakeholder engagement, operational grievance mechanisms, supply-chain monitoring,  and coordination across actors.

Complexity of Conducting Due Diligence

• Overlapping actors (federal police, local police, private security, venue security) create fragmented accountability. Responsibilities shift during bid, preparation, and event-time phases.

• Mega-events involve hundreds of contractual relationships: venues, transport, concessions, workforce providers, hotels, media, suppliers, and each contract is a vector for embedding (or failing to embed) human rights protections.
• Recurring risks include labour exploitation, forced labour in supply chains for merchandise or infrastructure, security-related abuses, threats to journalists, fans, LGBTQI+ attendees, or migrant communities

Corporate Engagement and Risks 

• Companies may engage with sports events through providing services or – on a larger scale – through sponsorship or broadcasting the events. This necessitates a review of the associated risks and mitigation plans. For example, broadcasting may involve the risk of exploiting the privacy and dignity of athletes on camera, freedom of expression for commentators, and other supply-chain risks in production (camera crews, logistics providers). Broadcast regulations may require additional considerations to be taken into account.

• Only a few sponsors explicitly classify sports sponsorship as a salient human rights issue. Some sponsors and broadcasters align their processes, including marketing, around gender equality and other rights themes.

Geopolitical Backlash

• Political pushback increases and creates a divide between those who retreat and those who continue championing human rights.

• The US 2026 FIFA World Cup may present heightened risks for migrant communities and LGBTQI+ individuals in certain host states, as well as exposure to uneven law enforcement practices.

• State, county, and city governance are often more constructive in safeguarding city-level policies, providing access to pro bono legal networks, and offering services for  survivors of gender-based violence, migrants, families, or vulnerable fans.

Strategic Takeaways for Business Enterprises and Practitioners

• Embed human rights due diligence in scoping, bidding and contracting. Include human rights clauses, audit rights, escalation mechanisms and suspension/termination pathways.

• Conduct context-specific human rights assessments and integrate and monitor these in risk management processes.

• Leverage the most powerful pre-contract phase and coordinate with other sponsors, broadcasters and suppliers to ensure consistency, since events involve multiple organisations.

• Establish real-time grievance channels for workers, volunteers, and fans, and ensure protections for journalists, LGBTQI+ attendees, and vulnerable groups.

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