New Centre for Sport and Human Rights looks to address global sport’s human rights crisis

July 8, 2021

A new global body that aims to ensure all stakeholders in sport have their human rights respected, protected and promoted has been established.

Granted the status of being an independent non-profit association under Swiss law as of today, the Centre for Sport and Human Rights (CSHR), which has been running since 2018 under a different legal status, has been created to prevent sport from harming society and athletes.

CSHR is particularly concerned about the welfare of athletes, in relation to sexual abuse, gender equality and the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Based in the Swiss capital of Geneva, (CSHR), the non-profit organisation has appointed a diverse nine-person board to oversee its work including former UNI Global Union General Secretary, Philip Jennings and past World Players Association Executive Director, Walter Palmer.

CSHR’s inaugural Chief Executive is former United States football player, Mary Harvey who last month told SWI swissinfo.ch that the idea of the Centre was born from controversies surrounding major sporting events such as the Rio Olympics in 2016, the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and worker deaths in the lead up to the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

Welcoming CSHR’s creation, World Players Executive Director, Brendan Schwab stated “World Players congratulates all who have contributed to today’s launch and looks forward to working in partnership with the CSHR and all its stakeholders to ensure the human rights of all who make sport possible are respected, protected and promoted.

“(We) welcome the formal establishment of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights as an important step in ensuring the advancement of the human rights of athletes and everyone who make sport possible.

“The work to meaningfully address global sport’s human rights crisis is just beginning. Principled, courageous and sustained collective action is urgently needed. The targeting of athlete activists, suppression of athlete expression and the right to organise, and horrific cases of athlete abuse need to be prevented and remedied. The business and politics of sport cannot continue to trample on the human rights of so many people while at the same time providing cover for abusers.

“By drawing on international human rights standards and principles, the Centre’s Sporting Chance Principles provide the cornerstone to address these challenges. They must now be accepted by the world of sport as non-negotiable ‘rules of the game’.

“The collective effort to create the Centre presents a unique opportunity to develop and execute a common vision of a better world of sport. That vision is not only that sport should be harm free. It is not only that sport should legitimately be a true force for good. It is that sport can set the example of respect for human rights in a difficult world.”

Switzerland was chosen as a base for the association due to the country’s political neutrality and because it is already home to many international sporting bodies, such as world football governing body FIFA and the International Olympic Committee.

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