Context

Global sporting events, such as the Commonwealth Games, provide a platform to highlight not only the multi-faceted benefits of sport but also sports governing bodies and sports-focused organisations and their supply chains’ responsibility to respect the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and increasingly meet mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) legislation. The UNGPs seek to provide an authoritative global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of adverse human rights impacts linked to business activity.

Inarguably, no sporting event has a bigger global reach and appeal (tv audiences attest) than the FIFA World Cup (men’s). FIFA’s lack of human rights due diligence when it awarded, in 2010, the FIFA 2022 World Cup to Qatar has, on one hand, resulted in well documented, wide-spread abuses of migrant labour during construction of the tournament stadia. It has, however inadvertently, also brought a human rights focus to the tournament that NGOs and human rights advocates have grasped to highlight the human rights abuses taking place in the country and wider region.

The ripple effect has led several sponsors to take a stance against the tournament over lack of progress on human rights. NGOs have called for FIFA to be explicit in what it expects of the host with regard to respect for universal human rights. The challenge is laid down with regard to: foreign national supporters’ human rights (e.g. homosexuality and lesbianism are illegal in Qatar); migrant workers engaged for the duration of the tournament to undertake security, cleaning and catering roles; workers in the official FIFA World Cup’s extended supply chains.

So, the FIFA 2022 World Cup and Commonwealth Games 2022 shine a bright light on individual human rights. They also highlight business and human rights and moreover sports governing bodies and sports-focused organisations and their supply chains’ responsibility to respect voluntary frameworks, such as the UNGPs and the ILO convention, and increasingly be compliant to mandatory HRDD legislation. France, Germany, Norway have implemented legislation that contains reference to HRDD, and it is in proposal stage in Japan, Canada and New Zealand.

This practical webinar will include expert commentary from the eminent speaker panel on legislation globally and the voluntary standards. Perspectives will be provided on where human rights risks exist around major sporting events and on a day-to-day basis in the sector. Guidance will be conveyed on best practice and the due diligence frameworks that exist to support sport-focussed companies to implement and report the actions they are taking to eliminate actual and potential human rights impacts in their direct business operations and supply chains.

Speakers’ biogs

Colleen Theron, CEO Ardea International

Colleen is a tri-qualified lawyer with over 25 years of legal and commercial experience of working with business, organisations and NGOs across sectors on both a strategic and operational level. She provides advisory services, training and online resources to both directors and employees on business and human rights, modern slavery and sustainability issues.

Andrea Florence, Acting Director at Sport & Rights Alliance.

An experienced human rights law feminist activist and campaigner, Andrea has spent over a decade fostering people-led social movements to drive systemic change. Andrea has a long track-record building network, developing and implementing advocacy and campaigning strategies, supporting internal organisational capacity, as well as programming philanthropic funding.

Dr Daniela Heerdt, The Centre for Sport and Human Rights

Dr Daniela Heerdt is a researcher and consultant at the Centre for Sport and Human Rights and a researcher at the T.M.C. Asser Institute in The Hague. Daniela has a background in public international law and human rights law and completed her PhD project entitled “Blurred Lines of Responsibility and Accountability – Human Rights Abuses at Mega-Sporting Events” in April 2021 at Tilburg University. The focus of the project was the question of how to establish legal responsibility for human rights harms that occur in the context of these events. Daniela also worked for the European Parliament and other actors from the sports ecosystem.

Mustafa Qadri,  Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Equidem

Mustafa Qadri is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Equidem, providing overall strategic direction and managing all our projects. He is a human rights research and advocacy expert with 20 years of interdisciplinary experience in government and public international law, journalism and the non-governmental sector.

The webinar will last 60 minutes and includes a question and answer session. At the point of registration you will have the opportunity to submit questions you would like to our speakers to respond to on the live webinar.

Unable to join us on the day? We will record this webinar. If you are unable to attend live, please register and we will send you a link to the recording after the webinar and a link to download the speakers’ presentations and other outputs.

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This webinar is paired with Ardea International’s Sports Sector END SLAVERY IEMA accredited programme that addresses human rights issues within a sports context, with a specific focus on modern slavery risks and responsibilities. The self-paced, modular programme incorporates workshop and home study sessions to support managers and directors working directly in sports governing bodies and for everyone working directly within sports-focussed organisations and their extended sports supply chains.

You may also be interested in Business & Human Rights online training and support programme.

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