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Dialogue and joint action are key to achieving the MSE Platform's mission of ensuring all actors involved in staging an event fully embrace and operationalise their respective human rights duties and responsibilities throughout the MSE lifecycle.

Over the years, members and partners of the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights have delivered the following major events:

• The second annual Sporting Chance Forum, hosted by the Swiss Federal Department for Foreign Affairs and IHRB in Geneva in November 2017. Opened by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, ILO Secretary General, and President of the International Olympic Committee, the Forum brought together 200 leading sport and human rights experts to share the latest progress on embedding respect for human rights in the world of sport. This included the groundbreaking announcement of a Centre for Sport & Human Rights launched in 2018. The outcome document will be published shortly.

• A panel session on MSEs and human rights at the UN Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva in November 2016.
   
• The Sporting Chance Forum, hosted by the United States Department of State, Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and IHRB in October 2016. The event brought together over 100 stakeholders across the MSE agenda, including sports governing bodies, previous and forthcoming MSE host government representatives, trade unions and civil society organisations, sponsors, broadcasters, and others. Read the outcome document here.
   
• A panel session on the particular context of Asia and MSEs and human rights at the Asia Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights in Doha in April 2016. Read the meeting summary here.
   
• A panel session on the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar and particular human rights challenges of FIFA in that context, also at the Asia Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights in Doha in April 2016. Read the meeting summary here.
   
• A two-day high-level Wilton Park event hosted by IHRB, Wilton Park and the Government of Switzerland in Glion in November 2015. The event was one of the first ever bringing together international experts with a collective global reach to more than 100 sport federations, 155 national business federations, 180 million workers and 10,000 athletes. Read the outcome document here.
   

Details of future events will be posted here.

Mega-sporting events (MSEs) have great potential to positively impact people’s lives. Many countries and cities vie for the privilege and prestige of hosting these events, including to generate new jobs, stimulate urban renewal and foster healthy living and sports participation.

Past experience has shown that if not managed properly MSEs can lead to serious human rights abuses. The pattern of human rights abuses linked to MSEs over recent decades runs counter to the core values of sport, and risks undermining the unique power of sport to bring people together.

Risks associated with these events range from forced evictions of communities and reports of police brutality to unsafe working conditions in the construction and infrastructure sectors; from migrant worker vulnerability to sweatshop conditions and child labour in the merchandise supply chain; from restrictions on freedoms of association, peaceful assembly, and the rights of journalists to report freely to gender, racial, religious and homophobic discrimination on and off the field of sport.

These human rights challenges are often foreseeable and can be mitigated, but may be beyond the capacity of any one stakeholder group to adequately resolve. Failure to prevent and confront such abuses threatens to undermine sport’s unique power to reconcile differences and to be a force for good. All actors should unite to reinvigorate the ideals of harmony among nations and respect for humankind and common dignity upon which the greatest sporting traditions rest.

See the Resources section for further background on MSEs and human rights.

The MSE Platform produces a range of guidance, research, meeting reports, and other supporting materials in order to contribute to more comprehensive, consistent, and accountable approaches to managing social risks and adverse human rights impacts arising from mega-sporting events and the world of sport more broadly.

These resources are listed below, and can be filtered according to key stakeholder groups within the sports context. 

Co-Chairs:

Brendan Schwab (Head of UNI Global Athletes) and Minky Worden (Director of Global Initiatives, Human Rights Watch)

Informed by members of the MSE Platform Steering Committee and a wider group of sport and human rights experts, the MSE Platform operates several workstreams aimed at supporting all actors in the world of sport fully embrace and operationalise their respective human rights duties and responsibilities.These workstreams include:

• Sports Bodies: Producing key resources and tools for operationalising respect for human rights in sports bodies large and small
• Host Actors: Tracking the latest developments in upcoming host countries and organising committees
• Sponsors and Broadcasters: Working with the sponsors and broadcasters of sport around the world to support robust two-way human rights due diligence.
• Remedy: Reviewing the state of play of remedy mechanisms in the world of sport and how the MSE Platform can ensure help support access to effective remedy

If you are interested in hearing more about any of these workstreams, or have expertise to share, please Contact Us. We are particularly interested in engaging with representatives of potentially affected groups in upcoming host countries to ensure those voices are always at the centre of the MSE Platform’s work.

Co-Chairs:

Sandra Lendenmann Winterberg (Head of Office of Human Rights Policy, Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs) and Ambet Yuson (General Secretary, Building and Woodworkers International)

Participants:

To be confirmed

Co-Chairs:

David Grevemberg (Chief Executive, Commonwealth Games Federation) and David Rutherford (Chief Commissioner, New Zealand Human Rights Commission)

Participants:

To be confirmed

To further the efforts of the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights (“MSE Platform”), the 2016 Sporting Chance Principles on Human Rights in Mega-Sporting Events were proposed by the U.S. Department of State, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) in October 2016. The Principles aim to underpin the common goal of ensuring that human rights are central to mega-sporting events throughout their lifecycle.

All stakeholders are invited to reference the Principles, and expressions of support or endorsement are welcome.

Co-Chairs:

Moira Oliver (Head of Policy & Chief Counsel, Human/Digital Rights, BT plc) and Brent Wilton (Director, Global Workplace Rights, The Coca-Cola Company)

Participants:

To be confirmed

For more information about the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights, and IHRB’s work on sport and human rights, please contact: [email protected].

We are particularly interested in engaging with representatives of potentially affected groups in upcoming host countries to ensure those voices are always at the centre of the MSE Platform’s work.

This section of the MSE Platform will be for members of the Steering Committee, Advisory Group, and Task Forces only. It is password protected and not open to the general public.

This area will be populated with key resources for advocacy and implementation efforts, including:

• MSE Platform logo
• Social media image - MSE Platform launch (twitter and facebook sized)
• Social media image - White Papers launch (twitter and facebook sized)
• Internal 'message house' (forthcoming)
• MSE Platform slide deck (forthcoming)

For requests for other internal resources to be posted to this members area, please contact IHRB's Communications Manager Haley St. Dennis.

The MSE Platform has evolved into its own independent entity, established in 2018, now known as the Centre for Sport and Human Rights. Visit the website for more on all sport and human rights-related developments and issues.

The Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights (MSE Platform) is an emerging multi-stakeholder coalition of international and intergovernmental organisations, governments, sports governing bodies, athletes, unions, sponsors, broadcasters, and civil society groups. Through dialogue and joint action our mission is to ensure all actors involved in staging an event fully embrace and operationalise their respective human rights duties and responsibilities throughout the MSE lifecycle. Chaired by Mary Robinson, the MSE Platform is facilitated by IHRB.

MSE Platform members are working together to develop more comprehensive, consistent, and accountable approaches to managing social risks and adverse human rights impacts arising from MSEs, and overcome the barriers to better knowledge transfer and good practice within and between sport traditions and events. This collective action seeks to raise awareness, innovate, advocate, educate, drive positive change, and give a voice to those most affected.

The MSE Platform is driven by the efforts of a multi-stakeholder Steering Committee of more than 20 organisations, supported by a high-level Advisory Group.  

Steering Committee - chaired by Mary Robinson

Governments

• Switzerland
• United States of America
• Brazil (observer)

Inter-Governmental Organisations

• International Labour Organization (ILO)
• Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
• Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
• Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
• Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF)
• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

Sports Governing Bodies

• Commonwealth Games Federation
• FIFA
• International Olympic Committee
• UEFA

Local Organising Committees / Oversight Bodies

• Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 (Former Chair)

Sponsors / Broadcasters / Business Groups

• Adidas Group
• BT plc
• The Coca-Cola Company
• International Organisation of Employers (IOE)

Trade Unions

• Building and Wood Workers International (BWI)
• International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
• World Players Association

Civil Society / Non-Governmental Organisations / National Human Rights Institutions

• New Zealand Human Rights Commission
• Three NGOs from the Sport and Rights Alliance, rotating on a six-monthly basis (*currently active):
  • Human Rights Watch*
  • Terre des Hommes*
  • Transparency International Germany*
  • Amnesty International
  • Football Supporters Europe

Advisory Group:

• International Labour Organization (ILO)
• International Organisation of Employers (IOE)
• International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
• Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

This site has now been archived.  All the information here and much more can be found on the Centre for Sport and Human Rights website.

Mega-sporting events (MSEs) have the potential to bring many societal benefits but are also complex to deliver, carrying inherent risks, including to human rights. They typically involve a years-long planning process spanning design and bidding to income generation, construction, sourcing, delivery, competition, and legacy. 

The Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights (MSE Platform) is an emerging multi-stakeholder coalition of international and intergovernmental organisations, governments, sports governing bodies, athletes, unions, sponsors, broadcasters, and civil society groups. Through dialogue and joint action our mission is to ensure all actors involved in staging an event fully embrace and operationalise their respective human rights duties and responsibilities throughout the MSE lifecycle.