FSE & CSHR Launch Fans’ Human Rights Guide

Like all people associated with sport, the human rights of fans should be upheld, and governments and institutions across the sports ecosystem, such as event organising committees, have responsibilities to protect and respect them.

Promoting human rights is a job for everyone, and fans themselves also have responsibilities. Fans have a strong platform to contribute to sport being a safe place and force for good and should know their rights. Fans also play a critical role in raising expectations across sport to ensure sporting events are welcoming and inclusive, and avoid causing harm to workers, residents, players, or others in and around an event.

The Fans’ Human Rights Guide, developed by Football Supporters Europe (FSE) and the Centre for Sport and Human Rights (CSHR), has been produced to raise awareness of some of the human rights aspects connected with attending an international sporting event from a fan perspective. The intent of this document, which builds on the guide Games Time – Planning and Acting to Respect Human Rights in Mega-Sporting Events, is to contribute to actions that ensure both fans and organisers are prepared for a safe and positive experience that upholds personal dignity and promotes once in a life-time experiences that sport can offer.

This is an initial version to be further developed in consultation with fans’ groups and other stakeholders, and will be revised based fans’ experiences at future sporting events.

Please contact the CSHR if you have any accessibility issues and require a plain text version of the guide.

Related news

2023 Annual Report: A New Era for Sport and Human Rights

2023 Annual Report: A New Era for Sport and Human Rights

Human Rights Can No Longer Be Ignored by the World of Sport “After years of fighting for global sport to recognize its impact and responsibility toward human rights, the year 2023 ushered in a new era – an era where human rights can no longer be ignored by sport governing bodies,” writes Andrea Florence, director […]

READ MORE

Hijab Bans in Olympic Host Country: Athletes Call on IOC to Act

Hijab Bans in Olympic Host Country: Athletes Call on IOC to Act

At the 45-day countdown to the start of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics on June 11, 2024, the Sport & Rights Alliance, Basket Pour Toutes, Amnesty International, Athlete Ally and Human Rights Watch hosted a media briefing to present their request that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) publicly call on French sporting authorities to overturn […]

READ MORE

Olympics: Sex Offenders Have No Place at the Games

Olympics: Sex Offenders Have No Place at the Games

Survivor-led Groups Call for Disqualification of Athlete Sex Offender From Paris 2024 (Nyon, Switzerland – 5 July, 2024) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should prohibit Dutch volleyball player Steven Van de Velde’s participation in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the Sport & Rights Alliance Athletes Network for Safer Sports, The Army of Survivors, and Kyniska […]

READ MORE

Related resources

Sparking Change at Play the Game 2024: Reflections from the Sport & Rights Alliance

Sparking Change at Play the Game 2024: Reflections from the Sport & Rights Alliance

The 13th edition of the Play the Game conference held in Trondheim, Norway, this February, brought together academics, journalists, athletes, human rights defenders and other stakeholders in the sports world to discuss the most pressing issues in international sport. The Sport & Rights Alliance (SRA) participated in the forum with a robust delegation, with representatives […]

READ MORE

2023 Annual Report: A New Era for Sport and Human Rights

2023 Annual Report: A New Era for Sport and Human Rights

Human Rights Can No Longer Be Ignored by the World of Sport “After years of fighting for global sport to recognize its impact and responsibility toward human rights, the year 2023 ushered in a new era – an era where human rights can no longer be ignored by sport governing bodies,” writes Andrea Florence, director […]

READ MORE

Mali: Girls’ Coach Gets Life Ban for Sex Abuse

Mali: Girls’ Coach Gets Life Ban for Sex Abuse

FIBA Punishes 5 Basketball Officials But Needs to Exclude Abusers, Protect Witnesses (New York) – The International Basketball Federation’s (FIBA) sanctions on top women’s basketball officials in Mali confirm the responsibility to remedy systemic abuse of young athletes, Human Rights Watch said today. But the appointment of another official suspected of abuse as head of the Mali Basketball […]

READ MORE

Join the Network

Sport has the potential to be a catalyst for human development, unity, and freedom, but too often it instead brings harm to its athletes, fans, and communities. We exist to uncover and rectify the many abuses that exist both in and around sport. We aim to transform sports into an authentic force for good.