ITUC

World Players Association Calls For Embedding Fundamental Labour Standards Across Sport At UN Conference
This week, the World Players Association (WPA) represented the player association movement at UNESCO’s MINEPS VII Global Sport Conference. The meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, brought together hundreds of representatives from sport ministries from around the world, along with other key stakeholders, including UN agencies, sport governing bodies, brands and civil society. In a session dedicated […]

Rights groups call on F1 to disclose human rights articles in F1 contracts amid concerns over ‘sportswashing’ in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia
F1 told to “meet victims” and use “all available leverage” to demand the release of political prisoners in Bahrain Comments Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), commented: “The pressure is mounting on Formula One management to be transparent on its relationship with abusive authoritarian regimes. They must now […]

China: A gold medal for repression
New ITUC research shows the actions of the Chinese Communist Party have made Beijing unsafe for athletes and others involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics, 4 – 20 February 2022. “China: A gold medal for repression” details five repressive policies of the ruling party that make China and the world less safe: repression and imprisonment in […]

Tokyo Olympics: IOC Must Review COVID-19 Protocols with Players’ Unions and Experts
The ITUC is calling for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to fix the deeply flawed COVID-19 protocols it has published for the Tokyo Olympics, through engagement with sports players’ unions and pandemic experts. An article published on 25 May in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine reveals major deficits in the IOC plans, which expose athletes, workers, volunteers and […]

Qatar Dismantles Kafala System of Modern Slavery
Qatar’s programme of labour reforms today succeeded in dismantling the kafala system and heralding a modern industrial relations system. Exit visas for workers – including domestic workers, those in government and public institutions, and workers employed at sea, in agriculture as well as casual workers – have been eliminated. These workers have the same rights […]

Refugee Footballer Hakeem al-Araibi Freed
The ITUC has welcomed the release of refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi from prison in Thailand and his return to his place of asylum, Australia. His release followed an unprecedented campaign led by sports players, their unions and the ITUC Australian affiliate ACTU, with governments, global unions, human rights groups and international sports federations FIFA and […]