TEPSA has coordinated a study requested by the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI). The study, requested as part of a workshop on “Large Sporting Events: Human Rights as a Game Changer”, was authored by Hans Erik Naess, Associate Professor in Sport Management, Department of Leadership and Organization, Kristiania University College Oslo, Norway. The study is entitled “Sport, sustainability and human rights: an integrated approach”.
This briefing considers the possibilities of strengthening human rights criteria regarding large sport events given the contemporary political context. Basing its approach on research advocating the merger of sport events and human rights with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the briefing discusses how these relations may affect sport governing bodies, hosts of large sport events, as well as future work by the European Union (EU). Three rights-holder groups to whom this approach would be beneficial are suggested as a potential framework for future policy discussions. Finally, three recommendations are introduced on how the branches of the EU can develop their work on promoting sport and human rights.