Sports and Human Rights

Elite sport has a human rights problem. Human Rights and Sports: Contested Fields of Justice analyses these problems in respect of mega-events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, as well as the rights of athletes in the fields of labour rights, freedom of speech, rights of non-discrimination, rights concerning safety, rights issues arising from the anti-doping regime, due process rights, and the right to a remedy generally. The book first explores the application of international human rights law in the context of elite sport, and how this is complicated by the extraordinary autonomy afforded to sports governing bodies by governments. Human rights issues arising from mega-events are then covered, before a series of chapters focused on the substantive and procedural human rights of athletes. The latter chapters involve an analysis of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and recent international judgments which challenge its authority. The book concludes with a discussion of elite sport, human rights and international relations, as well as recommendations for the application of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to sports governing bodies.

Sarah Joseph is Professor of Human Rights Law at Griffith University, Brisbane. Her publications focus on human rights internationally and in Australia, with particular focuses on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, business and human rights, trade and human rights, and rights issues arising in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. She has taught human rights courses in Australia and the US, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, and has run numerous human rights training programmes.