The Olympic Games

Learn about the biggest human rights issues surrounding the Olympic Games with the latest from Sport & Rights Alliance partners.

Requirements for Human Rights, Labour Rights, Anti-Corruption and Stakeholder Involvement for Olympic and Paralympic Games

Policies and practices adopted by the IOC have the potential to prevent, mitigate, report on and respond appropriately to the full spectrum of human rights and good governance risks posed before, during and after the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The IOC’s human rights responsibilities and 2022 Olympics Host City Contracts

The Sport and Rights Alliance (SRA), committed to upholding human rights, labour rights, children’s rights, anti-corruption and sustainability standards and principles in sport, particularly in the context of Major Sporting Events (MSEs), wishes to draw the attention of the IOC to its responsibility to respect human rights in the preparations, hosting and staging of an Olympic event.

BRAZIL: 2016 Summer Olympics

In 2016, the Summer Olympics are held in Brazil. This requires a great effort: building sports facilities, hotels and infrastructure. A lot needs to be done, also in the field of human rights. For example to prevent excessive police force against peaceful demonstrators. In Brazil, demonstrators are arbitrarily detained and labelled as criminals by charging […]

SOUTH KOREA: 2018 Winter Olympics

In 2018, the Winter Olympics are being held in South Korea. Some victories are desired for human rights in that country. The rights of migrant workers are severely violated in South Korea. They have very long working hours and are underpaid. They don’t get any days off or holidays and they live in bad housing […]

Beijing Olympics 2022

Happening just six months after the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, all eyes turn toward China for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Just as in 2008, the Communist Party of China will continue its legacy of sportswashing – using these Games to distract from its major human rights abuses. This Olympics will also provide the opportunity […]

KAZAKHSTAN: candidate 2026 World Cup Football

Kazakhstan is candidate for hosting the World Cup Football in 2026. The human rights record of the country is poor. Beautiful words cover up bad practices: Kazakhstan “will not rest until torture is completely eliminated”, the government announced. But torture is still taking place. The freedom of expression, association and assembly are restricted. Peaceful protesters […]