Racism and sport

The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 61/35 and contains an exploration and analysis of the topic of sport and racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. To inform the report, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Ashwini K.P., issued a call for submissions.¹ The Special Rapporteur extends her sincere gratitude to all respondents.

1. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2026/call-input-report-racism-and-sports. ↩

The Special Rapporteur builds on the work of a previous mandate holder² and presents a contemporary analysis. The report responds to the interest of the Human Rights Council and the broader United Nations human rights system in anti-racism, equality, non-discrimination and broader human rights standards in sport. The Special Rapporteur wishes to highlight relevant resolutions of the Human Rights Council,³ the reports of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on a world of sport free from racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance⁴ and on the intersection of race and gender discrimination in sport,⁵ and the report of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights on the right to participate in sports.⁶

2. See A/69/340. ↩
3. Resolutions 54/25 and 60/24. ↩
4. A/HRC/60/69. ↩
5. A/HRC/44/26. ↩
6. A/79/299. ↩

Sport is not a monolith. It is a vast and multidisciplinary phenomenon that takes place at the personal, local, national, regional and international levels. Sport extends beyond physical competition to embody the geography, history and cultural identities of individuals and communities. As highlighted by the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights:
sport … does not hold the same importance or value for everyone. For some, practising sports is part of their healthy lifestyle and routine, a way to get in touch with their strengths and limitations. For children, physical education and activity is an essential part of growth, learning about the body’s potential and limitations, enhancing socialization, pushing boundaries and forming character. For some, organized sports are mainly a spectacle, a performance or contest governed by rules, through which they can witness the abilities of others, cheer them on and build a sense of shared pride. For others, it is their work and their life.⁷

7. Ibid., para. 7. ↩

Sport is a broad spectrum that can range from a personal hobby to a professional career. Sport is also a multibillion-dollar and growing industry that involves many different roles beyond individuals who participate directly as athletes. Although sports are often celebrated as spaces that promote diversity and inclusion,⁸ they can also perpetuate racial stereotypes and systemic inequalities. Through entrenched cultural narratives, institutional practices and disproportionate patterns of representation, sports can reinforce racialized prejudice and stereotypes despite their ostensibly inclusive character.

8. Submissions from Montenegro and from Portugal. ↩

In the present section, the Special Rapporteur examines how, despite the positive potential of sport to address racial discrimination, multifaceted, often interconnected and harmful manifestations of racism continue. The analysis is applied to the impact of these scourges on all marginalized racial and ethnic groups, including Africans and people of 1 See https://www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2026/call-input-report-racism-and-sports. 2 See A/69/340. 3 Resolutions 54/25 and 60/24. 4 A/HRC/60/69. 5 A/HRC/44/26. 6 A/79/299. 7 Ibid., para. 7. 8 Submissions from Montenegro and from Portugal. GE.26-07112 African descent, Arabs and people of Arab descent, Muslims, Palestinians, Jewish people, Asians and people of Asian descent, caste-oppressed communities, Indigenous peoples and Roma persons.

In the analysis, the Special Rapporteur integrates an intersectional lens, exploring situations in which discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity is compounded by other forms of discrimination, including based on age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics, socioeconomic status, migration status, disability, minority status, Indigenous origin, health status, political or other opinion, religion or belief, or other status.⁹ The analysis also includes an exploration of systemic and structural forms of racism within sport.

9. A/HRC/57/67, para. 3; and A/HRC/59/62. ↩

Poverty can play a powerful role in shaping who can and who cannot access sports at different levels. There can be significant costs associated with participation in sport, including access to facilities, equipment, coaching, travel and optimal nutrition.¹⁰ These high costs are not just associated with elite-level competitions. They often apply at the grass-roots level and create a powerful barrier to children and young people entering sports. High costs can also cause children and young people to drop out prematurely. In addition to a lack of access to the necessary funds within the family, children from low-income backgrounds may also experience spatial segregation, limiting their proximity to resources by virtue of their geographical location.¹¹ Community sports facilities may be unavailable and/or the schools that can be accessed within the geographical location may lack sport-related resources, therefore normalizing exclusion and limiting the aspirations of children and young people. These disparities can create inequitable access across different socioeconomic levels within the same country. Systemic inequalities among countries, whereby low-income countries can have significantly fewer resources to invest in sporting infrastructure, can also have a highly negative impact on the ability of children and young people to access sports. Sports that have higher costs associated with them, including tennis, winter sports, swimming, golf, cycling, motorsports and equestrian sports, may be the most difficult for children from low-income family backgrounds or low-income countries to access.¹² The different levels of sports are often connected, with amateur and grass-roots level sports commonly acting as pipelines to the more elite levels. This means that poverty leading to a lack of access to sports among children and young people often has a powerful and lifelong impact on their participation. It can also deprive affected children of the immediate mental and physical health benefits of sport.

10. See A/79/299. ↩
11. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, The Social Impact of Sport: Unlocking the Potential of Sport to Drive Social Transformations (Paris, 2024). ↩
12. See A/69/340 and the Hamilton Commission, Accelerating Change: Improving Representation of Black People in UK Motorsport (2021). ↩

Poverty and income inequality and the way they impact access to sport are not race neutral. Disparities within and among different countries often arise along racial and ethnic lines. Racially discriminatory underdevelopment, which leads to significant inequalities between countries, is fundamentally embedded in the international economic order as an ongoing and powerful manifestation of colonial injustice.¹³ Many individuals from marginalized racial and ethnic groups continue to face disproportionate levels of entrenched poverty as a result of historical exploitation, extractivism, underinvestment in their communities and a lack of decent work opportunities because of the systems of exclusion embedded within economic and financial systems during colonialism. Poverty and income inequality, as manifestations of systemic racism, can further disproportionately impact persons from marginalized racial and ethnic groups who experience intersectional discrimination, including women and girls, persons with disabilities, migrants and/or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons.

13. See A/HRC/50/60. ↩

The Special Rapporteur is dismayed by the significant gaps in racially and ethnically disaggregated data on inequalities in access to sport and the particular dearth of information on the impact of systemic barriers to sports experienced by those in the global South. The limited research materials available suggest that the disproportionate impact of poverty and income inequality on persons from marginalized racial and ethnic groups, including those with experiences of intersectional discrimination, translates into inequitable access to the resources necessary to participate in sports. A previous Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance noted that sports that require high levels of income for entry are characterized by less racial and ethnic diversity in national and international competitions.¹⁴ The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report that included analysis on how the intersection between discrimination based on race and discrimination based on gender leads to greater obstacles for specific groups of women and girls, including those from racial and ethnic minorities.¹⁵

14. A/69/340, para. 21. ↩
15. See A/HRC/44/26. ↩

As the Special Rapporteur outlined in her most recent report to the General Assembly, there are multidimensional interconnections between conflict and racism.¹⁶ Persons from marginalized racial and ethnic groups are disproportionately impacted by violent conflict, due to the vulnerabilities arising from their positionality and their experiences of pre-existing systemic racism and intersectional discrimination, which are often legacies of enslavement and/or manifestations of past or ongoing colonialism, occupation and apartheid. Persons in situations of conflict are likely to face more significant barriers to participation in sport because of the impact of violent conflict on the availability of safe spaces, facilities, sports programmes and trained coaches. The exacerbation of socioeconomic exclusion that is often correlated with conflict can also reinforce and deepen the detrimental impact of poverty on participation in sport. There is a multidimensional relationship between racial discrimination and forced displacement and migration resulting from violent conflict. Internally displaced persons and refugees may face systemic barriers to participating in sport due to personal injuries and disabilities acquired in conflict situations or during dangerous migration journeys, lack of access to basic identification documents, legal complexities with their nationality, and racism and xenophobia.¹⁷

16. See A/80/496. ↩
17. See A/79/299, A/80/496, A/HRC/60/69 and A/HRC/44/26. ↩

Information received highlighted the multifaceted and destructive impact of conflict, occupation, apartheid and genocidal acts in the occupied Palestinian territories on the right of Palestinians to participate in sport. This included information about travel and freedom of movement restrictions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, imposed by the Israeli occupying forces through checkpoints, roadblocks, the separation wall and the permit regime. These restrictions mean that in practice athletes have not been able to travel around Palestine for training sessions and competitions and/or have been blocked from leaving the country to compete in regional and international competitions. The situation reportedly became even more acute when the illegal land, sea and air blockade was imposed in 2007, leading to movement in and out of the Gaza Strip being severely restricted. The severe restrictions faced by Palestinians athletes stand in stark contrast to the treatment of Israeli football clubs that are based in illegal settlements, demonstrating the apartheid experienced by Palestinians because of Israeli occupation. Despite national and international concern about the normalization of the presence of illegal sporting entities in occupied territory, this practice continues.¹⁸

18. Submission from the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, and OTH 132/2024 (available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=29414). See also Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, Advisory Opinion, 19 July 2024, General List No. 186 and A/80/337. ↩

The Special Rapporteur also received information about sports infrastructure and resources that have been destroyed by indiscriminate attacks by Israeli forces. For example, during the recent manifestations of the armed conflict, sports clubs, stadiums, youth centres and playgrounds in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed. The destruction has a disproportionate impact on Palestinians because of pre-existing systemic underinvestment in sports facilities and the lack of other resources resulting from the prolonged illegal Israeli occupation. The Special Rapporteur also received information about the killing and deliberate maiming of athletes, coaches, referees, sports administrators and scouts by Israeli occupation forces. In addition, there are reportedly numerous cases of arbitrary detention and torture of Palestinian athletes.¹⁹

19. Submission from the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva. ↩

Similarly, ongoing conflicts have had a profoundly detrimental impact on the development and sustainability of sports in many conflict-affected States in Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, the Sudan, and South Sudan. Political instability and armed violence have disrupted sporting infrastructure, limited athlete participation and reduced institutional support for sports development. For example, the armed conflict in the Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has precipitated the near-total collapse of organized sporting life across the country. There is substantial information about football in African conflict contexts, which demonstrates that sporting institutions and infrastructures are vulnerable to disruption during periods of armed violence and that football frequently functions as both a casualty of war and a mechanism of post-conflict reconstruction.²⁰ Displacement has emerged as a defining feature of wartime experience for Sudanese athletes, reflecting wider trends within the contemporary international sporting system. Scholarly literature on forced migration and elite sport has further emphasized that refugee athletes occupy a paradoxical position, simultaneously valorized within international institutions and marginalized within host-country sporting ecosystems.²¹

20. Gary Armstrong, “Talking up the game: football and the reconstruction of Liberia, West Africa”, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, vol. 9, No. 4 (September 2002). ↩
21. Ramón Spaaij and others, “Sport, refugees, and forced migration: a critical review of the literature”, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, vol. 1 (October 2019). ↩

The experience of the Sudan must be situated within a broader pattern observable across African conflict zones, where sporting institutions have repeatedly emerged as both casualties of armed violence and sites of political contestation. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, prolonged armed conflict, including the ongoing crisis precipitated by the Mouvement du 23 mars insurgency in the eastern provinces, has fundamentally reshaped national football structures, with sporting institutions becoming entangled with regime patronage, soft-power competition and the displacement of athletes and supporters.²² The disintegration of football infrastructure in the Sudan and the politicization of football in the Democratic Republic of the Congo together illustrate the vulnerability of African sporting institutions to the disruptive effects of sustained armed violence and conflict. The disintegration of Sudanese sport reflects not the suspension of recreational activity alone, but the destruction of social, cultural and institutional structures of fundamental importance to community cohesion and national identity.

22. Tamba Nlandu, “Football in DR Congo: a critical account of ‘Congolese football’”, in Football (Soccer) in Africa: Origins, Contributions, and Contradictions, Augustine E. Ayuk, ed.(Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), and Marko Begović and Simon Chadwick, “Geopolitics and sports”, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, vol. 7 (September 2025). ↩

Eligibility regulations are a powerful arbitrator of who can and who cannot participate in competitive sport. There is significant potential for discrimination if eligibility regulations are not developed and enforced in alignment with international human rights law, including the prohibition of racial discrimination. Eligibility regulations are developed and enforced by sports governance bodies operating at the different levels of local, national, regional and international competitive sports. As grass-roots and national teams tend to be pipelines for elite and international competitive sports, exclusion due to discriminatory regulations can have a powerful impact on the trajectories and careers of athletes.

The Special Rapporteur received several examples about the racially discriminatory impact of eligibility regulations. For example, in France, Muslim women, who often face systemic and intersectional discrimination due to race, ethnicity, gender and religion, are banned by some sports associations, such as those governing football and basketball, from wearing head coverings during sports activities. This creates a tension between women’s right to participate in sport and their rights to exercise religious freedom and freedom of expression. One submission received by the Special Rapporteur described playing sport without wearing head coverings as women being forced to give up a part of who they are. National-level bans also lead to the exclusion of Muslim women from international sports. The international federations governing basketball and football allow for the wearing of head coverings, but women who are excluded from sports because of French bans will usually not be able to access international sport owing to the relationships between local, national and international competitions. Moreover, there have been cases in which Muslim women have been forced to remove non-religious headwear, including protective equipment, based on their ethnic appearance,²³ demonstrating the ways in which head-covering bans can fuel Islamophobia, racial profiling and the surveillance and policing of Muslim women’s bodies and behaviours.

23. Submission from Les Hijabeuses, and FRA 13/2023 (available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=28534). ↩

The Special Rapporteur also received information about the use by World Athletics of the rule on maximum allowable standing height. The aim of the rule is ostensibly to ensure fairness in competition by restricting the length of prosthetic limbs based on an athlete’s predicted maximum height. The rule reportedly employs a formula used to estimate the length an athlete’s lower legs would be if they were biologically intact and, consequently, the athlete’s estimated overall height. Athletes must comply with the maximum allowable standing height to be eligible for competition, which in practice often requires prosthetic adjustment. Athletes from certain racial or ethnic backgrounds may be disproportionately affected, as their natural variations in body proportions may result in inaccurate height predictions, thereby limiting their ability to compete equitably. Blake Leeper, a Black man who was born with incompletely formed legs and underwent below-the-knee amputations, challenged the rule, and his resulting ineligibility to compete in the Olympics, before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Mr. Leeper’s team argued that his maximum allowable standing height was calculated considering solely Spanish-Caucasian athletes and that there was independent research that demonstrated systemic racial bias against Black athletes in such calculations.²⁴

24. Submission from Sports Rights Watch and International Human Rights Center, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. ↩

World Athletics introduced the Eligibility Regulations for the Female Classification (Athletes with Differences of Sex Development) in 2018. Prior to this, in 2015, the Court of Arbitration for Sport suspended the 2011 World Athletics rules that restricted the permissible amount of naturally occurring testosterone in women suspected of hyperandrogenism and that required the women concerned to undergo interventions to lower their testosterone to specified levels to compete. The 2011 rules were criticized for their discriminatory impact and the continued use of a single biological marker for determining eligibility to compete in the women’s category, and questions were raised about the robustness of the scientific evidence supporting the underlying claim that higher natural testosterone provides some women with a competitive advantage over other women. The 2011 rules were successfully challenged before the Court of Arbitration for Sport by Indian track-and-field athlete Dutee Chand. The arbitration included expert testimony about the disproportionate impact of the 2011 rules on low-income women from the global South. The 2018 rules impose testosterone thresholds and mandatory medical suppression on athletes with some forms of variations in sex characteristics. The application of the rules to a more limited number of athletes does not resolve issues relating to the use of a single biological marker for eligibility to compete in the women’s category or questions about the robustness of evidence supporting claims that a competitive advantage results from higher natural testosterone. Moreover, the 2018 rules appear to have a racially disproportionate impact, as the majority of elite athletes that have been affected by these rules are from sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Despite these issues, in 2019, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the legality of the 2018 regulations as applied to Caster Semenya, a Black South African athlete.²⁵

25. Ibid.; see also A/HRC/44/26. ↩

As has been highlighted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, there is a long history of sports governance organizations developing and enforcing policies that normalize the surveillance and policing of women’s bodies and violations of their human rights. Women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups, including those with experiences of intersectional discrimination, are all too often disproportionately harmed by these practices due to their positionality within sports governance systems and because they do not conform to Western-centric stereotypes of femininity.²⁶

26. See A/HRC/44/26. ↩

The Special Rapporteur is also deeply concerned by current trends in sports eligibility regulations that, increasingly, reflect reliance on mandatory genetic sex-testing and rigid biological criteria. Such approaches revive practices that were previously abandoned following sustained scientific, legal and ethical criticism. They risk reintroducing discrimination, including racial, ethnic and intersectional discrimination, and other human rights harm, and risk violating the principle of non-retrogression. There are also questions about whether women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups, including those with experiences of intersectional discrimination, have been consulted and listened to in the development of eligibility criteria. The trends include the development and publication by the International Olympic Committee, in March 2026, of the new Policy on the Protection of the Female (Women’s) Category in Olympic Sport. The Special Rapporteur wishes to highlight the joint statement on fairness, inclusion and non-discrimination in sport issued by several special procedure mandate holders in February 2026.²⁷ She endorses the call made in the joint statement for “States, the International Olympic Committee and international sporting federations to reaffirm their commitment to dignity and rights-based sports governance, to refrain from endorsing or implementing blanket bans or mandatory genetic sex testing, and to ensure that any eligibility regulations are developed through transparent, participatory processes and remain subject to ongoing review in light of evolving evidence and human rights standards”.

27. Available at https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/discrimination/260225-joint-statement-on-fairness-inclusion-and-non-discrimination-in-sport.pdf. ↩

The adequate representation of marginalized racial and ethnic groups across different sports and at all levels of such sports is very important. At the grass-roots level, sports mirroring racial and ethnic diversity within societies can build social cohesion and challenge societal stereotypes. At the more elite levels, visible examples of athletic success can help to further address harmful racial stereotypes and inspire children and young people from marginalized racial and ethnic groups. Elite athletic opportunities and associated commercial opportunities, such as sponsorship, can help individuals disrupt their personal experiences of systemic and structural racism. The inclusion of racially and ethnically diverse athletes in national sports teams can also help to disprove ethno-nationalistic notions, prevalent in some societies, that associate whiteness with national identity and perpetuate harmful racial hierarchies.

Cricket, in particular, has historically reflected and reproduced racial, religious, caste and class hierarchies embedded within everyday social life. In the twentieth century, cricket functioned as a globalizing institution through which British imperial authority and ideals of 25 Ibid.; see also A/HRC/44/26. 26 See A/HRC/44/26. 27 Available at https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/discrimination/260225-jointstatement-on-fairness-inclusion-and-non-discrimination-in-sport.pdf. GE.26-07112 “Englishness” were disseminated across the colonial world.²⁸ The lasting impacts of this can be seen in the lack of adequate racial representation among those participating in the sport. For example, a 2023 report on cricket in England and Wales found that Asian British and Black British players together constituted only 8.1 per cent of male professional cricketers in 2021, while 30 to 35 per cent of the game’s adult recreational population were from ethnically diverse backgrounds; furthermore, the number of Black British male professional players has reportedly declined by approximately 75 per cent over recent decades.²⁹ 29 Survey data collected by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket further revealed that 50 per cent of all respondents had experienced discrimination within the previous five years. The percentages of respondents reporting such discrimination were significantly higher among racialized minorities: 87 per cent of respondents of Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage; 82 per cent of respondents of Indian heritage; and 75 per cent of Black respondents.³⁰ In South Africa, the Social Justice and Nation-Building process documented extensive evidence that Black players were routinely denied meaningful opportunities despite formal inclusion within squads. Several former players testified that they were repeatedly selected as reserve players or made to carry beverages while white teammates were afforded playing opportunities regardless of comparative form or performance.³¹ Similarly, in India, Dalits constitute roughly 17 per cent of the national population but remain almost entirely absent from elite cricket structures. The absence of publicly available caste-disaggregated data within domestic cricket further obscures the scale of exclusion and hinders accountability.³²

28. See Dominic Malcolm, Globalizing Cricket: Englishness, Empire and Identity (Bloomsbury, 2013). ↩
29. Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, Holding Up a Mirror to Cricket (2023), p. 11. ↩
30. Ibid., p. 12. ↩
31. Cricket South Africa, Social Justice and Nation-Building Project Interim Report (10 December 2021), paras. 414–428. ↩
32. Gaurav Bhawnani and Shubham Jain, “Does India need a caste-based quota in cricket? Drawing parallels from South Africa”, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 53, No. 21 (May 2018). ↩

Another example of discrimination in participation in sport can be seen in the career of Faisal bin Mubashir, an Ahmadi cricketer from Pakistan. Mr. Bin Mubashir played extensively in the domestic cricket structure in Pakistan between 2011 and 2017 and was regarded as one of the best-known Ahmadi cricketers in recent years.³³ Despite this, he never represented Pakistan internationally and eventually moved to Germany, making his international debut for Germany in 2021. Mr. Bin Mubashir has shared his experience of the everyday forms of discrimination he faced within cricketing environments, explaining that he often modified his own behaviour in order to avoid discomfort or exclusion among teammates.³⁴ The structural discrimination faced by the Ahmadiyyah community is deeply embedded within the State and legal framework of Pakistan. Government policies and constitutional provisions have institutionalized exclusion, thereby legitimizing social and religious marginalization of the Ahmadiyyah community.³⁵

33. Faisal Mubashir, player profile, available at https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/faisal-mubashir-537048; and Saba Imtiaz, “Rabwah dreams of the green cap”, The Cricket Monthly, May 2016, available at https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1002085. ↩
34. Imtiaz, “Rabwah dreams of the green cap”. ↩
35. Adopted in 1974, the Second Amendment to the Constitution declares Ahmadis to be non-Muslim; Ordinance XX of 1984 further enforces that distinction. See also Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, “Pakistan’s Ahmadis face rising persecution, violence”, 21 May 2013; and Human Rights Watch, “Pakistan: Ahmadis kept off minorities commission”, 8 May 2020. ↩

Barriers to adequate representation are not confined to determining who can and cannot participate in sport. Racial discrimination and stereotyping can also impact the roles that are assigned to athletes within team sports. The Special Rapporteur received information from stakeholders about the practice of “racial stacking”, particularly among Africans and people of African descent. Racial stacking refers to the systematic channelling of racialized athletes into specific playing positions characterized by physical, peripheral or reactive roles, as opposed to more cognitive and leadership-oriented sporting roles; for example, people of African descent being disproportionately assigned to positions such as running back, wide receiver and defensive back in American football, or winger and striker in football (soccer). Racial stacking reportedly starts at the earliest stages of athletic participation, perpetuating itself throughout the different stages of an athlete’s participation in sport.³⁶ The Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights have both highlighted how people of African descent often face stereotypes that emphasize natural physical prowess over skills, hard work, leadership and intellectual abilities.³⁷

36. Submission from Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime. ↩
37. See A/79/299 and A/HRC/60/69. ↩

Given the importance of racial representation at all levels, the Special Rapporteur is concerned by the different manifestations of racism that contribute to barriers and obstacles that persons from marginalized racial and ethnic groups must overcome to be able to participate in different sports. These forms of racism not only violate the right to equality and non-discrimination among affected individuals but also have a more systemic detrimental impact on adequate racial representation.³⁸ Given the persistence of such racial disparities, the Special Rapporteur stresses the significant potential of special measures within different levels of sports. As such, she is disappointed not to have received any information from States or sports governance organizations about the application of any such special measures.

38. See A/HRC/60/69. ↩

The Special Rapporteur received several submissions detailing how persons from racialized groups, including individuals with experiences of intersectional discrimination, such as women, are significantly underrepresented in sports governance bodies.³⁹ While there are emblematic and important examples of persons, including women, from racialized groups reaching senior positions in sports governance,⁴⁰ overall trends in underrepresentation and related invisibilization persist. A multitude of interconnected factors contribute to the persistent and systemic underrepresentation of racialized groups within sporting governance. These reportedly include the absence of special measures that are implemented effectively and with the assurance of accountability for non-compliance; the consequences of “racial stacking” practices, which leave athletes from racialized groups less well positioned to transition into sports governance roles; entry-level diversity measures that do not translate to better representation within senior leadership roles; implicit bias embedded within recruitment, promotion and evaluation processes; disproportionately high attrition rates among persons who experience manifestations of systemic racism; significant gaps in racially and ethnically disaggregated data used to monitor representation within sports governance bodies; and a lack of political will within the senior levels of sports governance to take the steps necessary to address systemic underrepresentation.

39. See, for example, submissions from Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime and from FAIR – Fide Research Monitoring Reporting. ↩
40. Submission from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. ↩

This structural underrepresentation is concerning. The representation of persons from marginalized racial and ethnic groups within sporting governance roles is potentially an important way to disrupt structural and systemic forms of racism within sports. With sport being a multibillion-dollar and growing industry, governance organizations, particularly at the elite level, can be powerful institutions that determine who can and who cannot participate. They also often have the power and resources to prevent and act in cases of racism and hate speech directed toward athletes and/or fans.⁴¹ The potential for sports governance bodies to act against racism is currently not being fully realized.

41. Submission from Iraq. ↩

While there are significant gaps in the research and data, particularly regarding these phenomena in the global South, the information that is available reveals systemic underrepresentation. Research suggests that a very significant majority of senior governing 36 Submission from Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime. 37 See A/79/299 and A/HRC/60/69. 38 See A/HRC/60/69. 39 See, for example, submissions from Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime and from FAIR – Fide Research Monitoring Reporting. 40 Submission from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. 41 Submission from Iraq. GE.26-07112 and senior operational roles in European football are held by white men. The impact of this lack of racial representation has been shown to include weaknesses in institutional responses to racism.⁴²

42. Steven Bradbury, “Institutional racism, whiteness and the under-representation of minorities in leadership positions in football in Europe”, Soccer and Society, vol. 14, No. 3 (2013). ↩

The racial, religious, caste and class hierarchies that persist in cricket also persist in the governance of the sport. For example, in a report prepared in 2023, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, based on extensive evidence it had gathered, concluded that “deeply rooted and widespread forms of structural and institutional racism, sexism and class-based discrimination continue to exist across the game”.⁴³ Data shows that in England and Wales, South Asians comprise approximately 26 to 29 per cent of the recreational cricket-playing population but account for only 2.8 per cent of cricket’s most senior leadership positions. Black representation within senior governance structures is almost entirely absent.⁴⁴

43. Ibid. ↩
44. Ibid., p. 11. ↩

Another example is the launching of the Hamilton Commission in 2021, as a response to Sir Lewis Hamilton’s concerns about the lack of racial and ethnic diversity within Formula 1 and the broader motorsport industry. In its report, Accelerating Change: Improving Representation of Black People in Motorsport, the Commission highlighted that only a small proportion of roles in senior leadership, team management, technical and engineering capacities and governance structures in motorsports are occupied by Black persons or persons from other racialized groups.

The Special Rapporteur received several submissions detailing racist incidents that had taken place within sports, including disturbing racist chants and racist insults directed toward players and fans. While many such incidents reportedly occurred in the context of elite and highly visible sporting competitions, amateur athletes at the grass-roots level, including children, are also targeted.⁴⁵ Racist incidents that take place at the sporting events are often compounded by hateful online discourse. Online racial abuse amplifies racism directed towards athletes and fans; it is “instantaneous, anonymous, scalable, and global in its reach”.⁴⁶ Offline and online racism can also intersect with homophobic, transphobic, ableist and sexist discourse, leading to intersectional discrimination.

45. Submission from Portugal. ↩
46. Submission from Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime. ↩

Several submissions raised concerns that racist attacks in sports have been increasing due to the current political climate and the increasing digitalization of sports.⁴⁷ While there are significant gaps in racially and ethnically disaggregated data on racist incidents in sports, there are data sources that validate this concern. For example, data collected by the civil society organization Kick It Out suggests that racist incidents, including those motivated by antisemitic and Islamophobic sentiments, have been increasing at the professional and grass-roots levels in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland over recent years.⁴⁸

47. Submissions from Portugal; FAIR – Fide Research Monitoring Reporting; Elizka Relief Foundation; Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime; and humanrights.ch. ↩
48. Kick It Out, “Incident reporting 2024/25” (2025). ↩

The Special Rapporteur received disturbing information about incidences of racism directed towards women and girls playing football at the junior and amateur adult levels in Switzerland. For example, in one reported case, a young player from Grasshopper Club Zürich was subjected to racist abuse by an assistant coach from the opposing team during a junior girls’ match, and the abuse was not effectively addressed during the match.49 The 42 Steven Bradbury, “Institutional racism, whiteness and the under-representation of minorities in leadership positions in football in Europe”, Soccer and Society, vol. 14, No. 3 (2013). 43 Ibid. 44 Ibid., p. 11. 45 Submission from Portugal. 46 Submission from Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime. 47 Submissions from Portugal; FAIR – Fide Research Monitoring Reporting; Elizka Relief Foundation; Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime; and humanrights.ch. 48 Kick It Out, “Incident reporting 2024/25” (2025). 49 Submission from humanrights.ch. GE.26-07112 Special Rapporteur also received information about projects that have been developed to try to address racism within football at the grass-roots level.⁵⁰

50. Submission from Germany. ↩

Elite soccer has a long history of deplorable racist incidents, such as racist chants, racist insults and banana peels being thrown at players of African descent.⁵¹ The increasing integration of social media into football has allowed for the online replication of these long-established scourges. The abuse faced by Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, players of African descent, following the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Euro 2020 final is an emblematic case of online racial hatred in football. The three players for England were subjected to a torrent of scapegoating and racial abuse following the defeat of England in the final. According to an independent investigation, at least 80 monkey GIFs and other racial slurs were posted on Mr. Saka’s Instagram profile, with some content remaining online for over 24 hours despite user reports.⁵² Similar cases of racist abuse, such as those involving Vinícius Júnior, an Afro-Brazilian player who played in Spain, illustrates how racial abuse directed at players of African descent remains deeply embedded within contemporary football cultures and stadium environments.⁵³ In addition, the racist abuse directed at Jamaican women’s footballer Khadija Shaw is illustrative of how racism operates at the intersection of race and gender.

51. Submission from Portugal. ↩
52. Submission from Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime. ↩
53. Vincent Sima Olé and Robbie Newton, “FIFA needs to call full time on discrimination”, Human Rights Watch dispatches, 24 February 2026. ↩

The scapegoating of athletes from marginalized racial and ethnic groups when fans face disappointment with their team’s performance is a common theme in many racist incidents. Followed the defeat of the Indian women’s hockey team in the Olympics semi-finals in 2021, the player Vandana Katariya was targeted. Two men allegedly danced and burst firecrackers outside Ms. Katariya’s house in a gesture of mockery. When her family members went outside, casteist remarks, suggesting that the team had lost because there were too many Dalit players, were directed at them.⁵⁴

54. NDTV, “Caste slur at hockey player Vandana Katariya’s family, 1 arrested: report”, 5 August 2021, and Suman Ghosh, “Casteist cry in Indian sports: revisiting caste discrimination of Palwankar Baloo and Vandana Katariya”, Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 14 June 2025. ↩

Racist incidents, which can include cases that reach the threshold for incitement to discrimination, hatred and violence, are deeply harmful to athletes at both the elite and grass-roots levels. They can have a detrimental impact on the mental health of athletes. This can become compounded when athletes face multiple incidents of racism, as is common. At the elite levels, these detrimental mental health impacts can disrupt the continuity of athlete’s careers and their livelihoods. At the grass-roots level, racism can impact the day-to-day lives of athletes, damage social cohesion and impact the socialization of children. In addition, the normalization of such racist incidences can have a ripple effect. Fans from racialized groups can be affected in a secondary manner by hatred directed at athletes. Moreover, the normalization of racial hatred within sport can mean that fans from racialized groups face similar abuse.⁵⁵

55. Submissions from FAIR – Fide Research Monitoring Reporting; Elizka Relief Foundation; Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime; and humanrights.ch. ↩

The impact of racist incidents can be intensified in cases where inadequate action is taken by relevant authorities, sports governance bodies and other actors, including social media companies. The Special Rapporteur received information suggesting that some sports governance officials have trivialized racist chants from sports fans, attributing them to rivalry and to emotions associated with competitive sporting events. She is concerned by information suggesting that there may be a culture of silence within some sporting institutions, with multiple African and South American soccer players reportedly being advised not to speak out about their experiences of racism for fear of contractual sanctions. There can be specific challenges in addressing online racist abuse due to gaps in regulatory frameworks and an overreliance on self-regulation by social media companies.

The hosting of sporting events, including major international events, can present opportunities for sports governance bodies and States to promote anti-racism measures. They can also be a highly visible platform for athletes from marginalized racial and ethnic groups to challenge negative stereotypes and inspire children and young people. There are also a multitude of human rights issues involved in the hosting of sporting events, particularly major international competitions.

Many human rights organizations have raised concerns about how sports governance bodies decide where international events should be hosted and whether human rights impact assessments are consistently undertaken when these decisions are made. The Special Rapporteur welcomes some measures taken by sports governance bodies, such as the International Olympic Committee and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), to implement human rights impact assessments when determining host cities for sporting events. However, the Special Rapporteur remains concerned about reports about the limited extent to which the issue of racial discrimination is integrated into human rights impact assessments. Racialized groups may be disproportionately affected by any negative human rights impacts related to the hosting of sporting events because of their positionality and pre-existing vulnerabilities, underlining the necessity of ensuring that the issue of racial discrimination is central to impact assessments.

In addition to risks linked to planning and hosting decisions, the operational phase of events raises further human rights concerns. For example, hosting major international sporting events typically entails extensive public security operations. This can present significant risks of exacerbating manifestations of racial discrimination perpetrated by law enforcement officials, including racial profiling and the excessive and lethal use of force. The increasing integration of artificial intelligence into law enforcement, including artificial intelligence designed to manage public security during sporting events, further deepens these risks. Another important human rights issue is the internal displacement that can occur as a result of preparations for major international sporting events. Those from marginalized racial and ethnic groups are likely to be disproportionately impacted by this due to their pre-existing vulnerability.

Athletes facing racial and intersecting forms of discrimination at different levels of sports can also face several major barriers with regard to submitting complaints and obtaining redress, which contributes to an overall climate of impunity in sport. These barriers operate both at a structural level, through governance frameworks and cultural norms, and at a procedural level, through the complexity, cost and accessibility of available remedies.

Some forms of racism, particularly structural and systemic forms, may be so inherent in a sport and its overall governance and culture that they may not be recognized as discrimination with a clear path for redress. Narratives about the importance of outcomes being decided by sporting competition, rather than legal measures, can dominate and may have a further chilling effect on athletes seeking redress. This invisibilization of racism can be exacerbated by athletes’ fears of professional exclusion and reprisals for speaking out about racism.⁵⁶

56. Submissions from FAIR – Fide Research Monitoring Reporting; International Attestations; and Sports Rights Watch. ↩

Elite athletes who decide to seek remedy for manifestations of racial discrimination covered by the rules and regulations of sports governance bodies can face complex legal pathways. Arbitration mechanisms and committees within the governance bodies of various sports tend to be the first recourse for athletes. As highlighted in many submissions received by the Special Rapporteur, serious concerns have been raised about the independence and impartiality of these bodies, and about their knowledge and consistent application of human rights standards. If a complaint cannot be resolved by a sport’s governance body, there is an option to escalate it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which acts as a global arbitration body. Many stakeholders have raised concerns about the extent to which the Court consistently engages with and applies international human rights standards, including the prohibition of racial discrimination. The Special Rapporteur notes with concern reports about the Court’s limited jurisprudence on cases of racial discrimination.⁵⁷

57. Submissions from FAIR – Fide Research Monitoring Reporting; International Attestations; and Sports Rights Watch. ↩

The Court of Arbitration for Sport is based in Switzerland, and its awards may be challenged before the Swiss Federal Tribunal on limited procedural grounds. Some cases involving alleged human rights violations have been reviewed by the European Court of Human Rights following the exhaustion of domestic remedies. Athletes can be required to navigate complex, lengthy and fragmented legal pathways involving multiple, often foreign, legal jurisdictions. There are significant costs to pursuing remedy, particularly in cases that require escalation through multiple stages. These include lawyers’ fees, travel and visa costs. While some attempts have been made to provide support to lower income athletes, such as legal aid provided by the Court of Arbitration, there is still a significant risk of racialized athletes from the global South facing disproportionate barriers to remedy. Such athletes may also face specific procedural barriers, such as difficulties in being able to obtain the appropriate visas to attend relevant arbitration or court proceedings in global North countries.⁵⁸

58. Submissions from FAIR – Fide Research Monitoring Reporting; International Attestations; and Sports Rights Watch. ↩

It can be complex in certain cases to determine whether a case of racial discrimination should be addressed by the relevant sports governance body or by national authorities. There are forms of racism perpetrated in sport, including hate speech that meets the threshold for incitement to hatred, discrimination or violence, that relevant national law enforcement agencies in the host country also have a responsibility to address. While criminal sanctions have been applied in some cases of racist hate speech perpetrated during sporting events, there remains a risk that the athletes affected face confusion about the most appropriate and effective means for seeking remedy, which contributes to impunity.

Sport-related racism perpetrated in digital spaces, including social media, is often shielded by an additional layer of impunity. Online environments are often perceived as spaces with limited accountability, where anonymity lowers inhibition and facilitates the spread of racist content. Such dynamics contribute to the normalization of racist discourse, particularly given the global reach of online platforms. The responsibilities of sports governance bodies, public authorities and platform operators to address online abuse remain unclear. Specific mechanisms to address online racism in sport are largely absent and there are cases where racist content related to sport has been allowed to remain on social media platforms despite user reports.

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination contains a comprehensive prohibition of all forms of racial discrimination that applies within all sporting domains and to all the manifestations of racism outlined in the preceding section. As reflected in article 1 (1), the Convention incorporates a broad definition of racial discrimination as any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.

States that are a Party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination have committed to pursuing the realization of a domestic and international community free of all forms of racism. To facilitate the substantive realization of racial equality, article 2 of the Convention requires States Parties to ensure that they do 57 Submissions from FAIR – Fide Research Monitoring Reporting; International Attestations; and Sports Rights Watch. 58 Submissions from FAIR – Fide Research Monitoring Reporting; International Attestations; and Sports Rights Watch. GE.26-07112 not take part in any act of racial discrimination or further programmes that lead to racial inequality. Furthermore, where racism, racial inequality or racial discrimination exists, including in systemic, structural and intersectional forms, States Parties have an obligation to take effective and immediate action.

Obligations to achieve racial equality and ensure non-discrimination extend to all areas of government policy and influence, including the public governance of sports and the regulation of the business entities that are involved in sports governance. Whether the racial discrimination occurring within sporting domains is intentional or not is irrelevant to the duty of States Parties to act, given the scope of the prohibition of racial discrimination under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and other human rights treaties.

States Parties must also ensure that all racial and ethnic groups enjoy the full scope of their human rights in the context of sport as encompassed in article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Article 5 provides for equality before the law, including the rights to equal participation in cultural activities and to equal treatment before the tribunals and all other organs administering justice. Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also establishes the right to equal participation in cultural life. As stated by the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, “the right to participate in sports, whether grass-roots, amateur, professional, or elite, falls firmly within the scope of cultural rights, defined as rights relating to identities and ways of life”.⁵⁹

59. A/79/299, para. 4. ↩

In relation to the racist incidents that occur at sporting events and racial hatred on social media, the Special Rapporteur highlights the importance of article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Pursuant to article 4, States Parties are to condemn all propaganda and all organizations which are based on ideas or theories of superiority of one race or group of persons of one colour or ethnic origin, or which attempt to justify or promote racial hatred and discrimination in any form, and undertake to adopt immediate and positive measures designed to eradicate all incitement to, or acts of, such discrimination. Additional human rights standards, including general recommendation No. 35 (2013) of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, elaborate further on the obligations of States to prevent, address and remedy hate speech, including online hatred.⁶⁰

60. See also A/78/538. ↩

International human rights law, including article 6 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, provides that all persons who are subjected to racial discrimination have a right of access to remedies, which also applies in cases in which discrimination occurs within the context of sport.

The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action recognizes that racism and racial discrimination persist in many areas of life, including cultural and sporting activities. In paragraph 218 of the Programme of Action, States are urged to work, in cooperation with intergovernmental organizations, the International Olympic Committee and international and regional sports federations, to intensify the fight against racism in sport. In that regard, States are encouraged to promote tolerance, respect and intercultural dialogue through sport and undertake educational and awareness-raising initiatives through sport, especially targeting youth.

Private entities play a significant role in the management of sports. The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights outline the relevant obligations of Governments and the relevant human rights responsibilities of both Governments and businesses. The Guiding Principles establish that States must protect against human rights abuses committed by third parties within their territory and/or jurisdiction, including business enterprises. States should provide such protection by ensuring effective policies, legislation, regulations and adjudication, among other actions. The Guiding Principles establish the responsibility of 59 A/79/299, para. 4. 60 See also A/78/538. GE.26-07112 companies to prevent, mitigate and remedy human rights violations that they may cause or to which they may contribute and to conduct human rights due diligence regarding relevant business activities. In addition, the Guiding Principles establish government obligations and business responsibilities to ensure access to remedies for business-related human rights violations. V. Conclusions and recommendations

Sport, as a vast, multidisciplinary and heterogenous phenomenon, holds a unique and powerful place in societies across the world. It is an area that encompasses personal development, cultural expression, economic activity and collective identity. Sport possesses significant potential to advance equality and diversity, challenge harmful racial stereotypes and foster solidarity across racial, ethnic and cultural divides. Yet this potential remains far from fully realized. Instead, sport – from the grass-roots level to the elite level – continues to reflect and, in many instances, reproduce the structural and systemic inequalities both within and between countries.

Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance are not isolated or exceptional phenomena within sport. They are pervasive, multilayered and often deeply entrenched. These dynamics are further intensified when viewed through an intersectional lens, which reveals how race, ethnicity, descent and caste intersect with gender, religion, migration status, disability and other grounds for discrimination to produce compounded and distinct harms.

Historical and ongoing structural forces continue to shape access to sport and experiences within it. These realities demonstrate that racism in sport cannot be addressed in isolation from broader systems of power and inequality at the national and international levels. In this sense, it is imperative that States implement the recommendations outlined below in the context of broader reparative justice approaches. Such approaches demand the identification, acknowledgement and remedy of the systemic nature of racism and intersectional discrimination as driven by crimes against humanity relating to colonialism, enslavement, apartheid, caste oppression and patriarchy and related legacies of ongoing oppression.

Sports governance bodies and related actors, despite their significant influence, have often failed to adequately prevent or respond to racism. Limited racial diversity within leadership, lack of transparency and participation in decision-making, and insufficient alignment with international human rights standards contribute to the persistence of discriminatory practices. Similarly, barriers to accessing effective remedies, due to complex legal pathways, high costs, fear of reprisals, and inadequate institutional responses, have fostered a climate of impunity that further entrenches injustice.

International human rights law provides a clear and comprehensive framework for addressing these challenges. These obligations require not only the consistent implementation of the prohibition of discrimination, but also proactive, sustained and systemic measures to achieve substantive equality. They also demand accountability, effective remedies and the meaningful participation of those most affected by discrimination in shaping policies and practices.

Ultimately, the eradication of racism in sport and the fulfilment of its potential as a force for positive change requires transformative change and partnership among multiple stakeholders. It calls for coordinated action by States, sports governance bodies, private sector actors, civil society and the international community. Efforts must move beyond symbolic gestures and reactive measures towards comprehensive strategies that address root causes, redistribute opportunities and dismantle entrenched power imbalances and racial hierarchies.

States should:
(a) Collect racially and ethnically disaggregated data on racism within sports, ensuring that research and data collection efforts include systemic and structural manifestations of racism, as well as intersecting forms of discrimination;
(b) Ensure that all data-collection activities are conducted in line with international human rights law provisions and relevant guidance, including the guidance issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights entitled “Disaggregated data to advance the human rights of people of African descent: progress and challenges” and “A human rights-based approach to data: leaving no one behind in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”;
(c) Invest in sports infrastructure, programmes and coaching for children and young people, ensuring equitable access to these resources among those from marginalized racial and ethnic groups, including through targeted measures, such as community-based funds. Attention should be paid to identifying and addressing inequities in access to sports with high associated costs;
(d) Take comprehensive steps to prevent, address and remedy violent conflict, given its relationship with racial discrimination and its detrimental impact on the right to participate in cultural life, including sport. In her report to the General Assembly on multidimensional interconnections between conflict and racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, the Special Rapporteur outlines a series of recommendations in this regard that she urges States to implement effectively;⁶¹
(e) Protect sports infrastructure and ensure the freedom of movement and safety of athletes in situations of conflict and occupation, in line with international human rights and humanitarian law;
(f) Refrain from endorsing or implementing any eligibility regulations that lead to racial and intersecting forms of discrimination;
(g) Engage with sports governance bodies to ensure that all eligibility regulations are developed through transparent, participatory processes, which include meaningful consultation with persons from marginalized racial and ethnic groups and persons with experiences of intersectional discrimination. All eligibility regulations should remain subject to ongoing review in the light of evolving evidence and human rights standards;
(h) Engage with sports governance bodies on effective equity, diversity and inclusion measures to ensure racial and ethnic representation with regard to the different athletic playing positions, as well as in roles in coaching, management and governance bodies;
(i) Ensure that incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence is prohibited and, in the most serious cases, criminalized within national legal frameworks in a manner that is consistent with international human rights norms and standards, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Rabat Plan of Action;
(j) Effectively implement article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to address the corrosive impact that racial hatred and hate speech have on sport, promote the positive potential of sport to act as a force against racism, and work with sports governance bodies and technology companies to realize this potential;
(k) Significantly invest, in partnership with sports governance bodies and technology companies, in proactive, evidence-based non-legal measures, such as counter-speech, public awareness campaigns, education, community projects and steps to build societal support for pluralism, to address racist hate speech in sport, including incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence. The hosting of sporting events should be considered an important opportunity to implement these non-legal measures;
(l) Uphold the right to freedom of expression and opinion in all efforts to prevent and address racial hatred and racist hate speech in sports, ensuring that any restriction on these rights meets the criteria of legality, necessity, proportionality and legitimacy;
(m) Work in partnership with sports governance bodies to ensure that human rights impact assessments are undertaken in preparation for the hosting of sporting events and that racial discrimination standards are integrated into such analyses;
(n) Ensure that all public security operations relating to the hosting of sporting events, including any utilization of artificial intelligence, uphold international human rights law standards fully;
(o) Ensure effective access to remedy for all those who have experienced manifestations of racism in sport. This should include competent State bodies undertaking effective investigation and prosecution in relevant cases, as well as broader work with sports governance bodies and technology companies to uphold the right to effective remedy.

61. A/80/496, para. 52. ↩

Sports governance bodies and related actors should:
(a) Continue and expand efforts to support access to sports among children and young people, ensure that such programmes are effectively targeted and that they address any inequities in access to sport experienced by children and young people from marginalized racial and ethnic groups, and collect racially and ethnically disaggregated data on barriers to accessing sport in order to adequately target such measures and monitor their effectiveness;
(b) Refrain from developing or implementing any eligibility regulations that lead to racial and intersecting forms of discrimination;
(c) Develop eligibility regulations through transparent, participatory processes that include meaningful consultation with persons from marginalized racial and ethnic groups and persons with experiences of intersectional discrimination, and ensure that such regulations are subject to ongoing review, considering evolving evidence and human rights standards;
(d) Take proactive steps to identify barriers to participation among racialized athletes and to eliminate racial stereotyping in player positioning, scouting and career progression pathways;
(e) Develop and effectively implement effective diversity, equity and inclusion measures to ensure that persons from racialized groups are adequately represented in all roles in sports governance bodies, including senior leadership positions. The implementation of such measures should be monitored through the collection of racially and ethnically disaggregated data;
(f) Work with States and social media companies to take decisive and proportionate action when racist incidents take place in the context of sporting events;
(g) Work in partnership with States and technology companies to develop and implement proactive, evidence-based non-legal measures to prevent racism;
(h) Ensure that human rights impact assessments are consistently undertaken before decisions are made about the hosting of sporting events, including major international competitions, and that the consideration of racial discrimination is central to such analysis;
(i) Develop and implement comprehensive anti-racism training and awareness-raising initiatives for all staff;
(j) Take steps to improve the independence and impartiality of complaint resolution mechanisms;
(k) Ensure that complaint resolution mechanisms consistently apply relevant international human rights law standards, including on the prohibition of racial discrimination, in their decisions;
(l) Simplify pathways to remedy for racial discrimination in sport and continue and expand efforts, such as legal aid schemes, to provide support for athletes, particularly those from marginalized racial and ethnic groups;
(m) Collect racially and ethnically disaggregated data on complaints of racial and intersecting forms of discrimination in sport, in order to monitor such incidents and their outcomes. Such data should inform broader sports governance to ensure non-repetition of the manifestations of racial discrimination experienced by athletes.

Social media companies should, in line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, work with States and sports governance bodies to effectively prevent, address and remedy online racial hatred that takes place in relation to sporting events and other related aspects.

The United Nations should:
(a) Continue and expand research and analysis on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and sport. This should include a focus on closing gaps in the information available on the impact of systemic barriers to sports experienced by persons in the global South;
(b) Provide States and other actors with technical assistance to facilitate effective implementation of human rights-based approaches to combating racism and discrimination in sport and the effective collection and analysis of racially and ethnically disaggregated data on racism and sport.