Racism significantly impacts access to sport: Independent expert

This article is published in association with United Nations.

From high participation costs and restrictions on Palestinian athletes – to bans on Muslim women wearing hijabs – racism continues to shape who gets to participate in sport, a new UN report published on Thursday has found.

Despite sport’s ability to promote diversity and inclusion, the report noted that those from racial and ethnic minorities lack representation at many levels of global sport, with governance and access disparities reflecting broader structural inequalities.

Ashwini K.P., the Human Rights Council-appointed independent expert on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, recognised sport’s unique place in promoting cultural expression and collective identity.

“Persistent stereotypes continue to influence how athletes are identified, trained, selected and perceived,” the Special Rapporteur told the Human Rights Council on Thursday. “I am concerned about the underrepresentation of racially and ethnically marginalised groups, including minorities, caste-oppressed communities, and other racialised populations.”

In her report, she recommended that Member States collect disaggregated data on racism within sports, invest in sport infrastructure and promote equal access, ensure athletes’ safety, consider any eligibility regulations that could have discriminatory impacts, and recall their obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

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Economic barriers

Lack of access to facilities, equipment, coaching, travel and nutrition can serve as a powerful barrier to children and young people entering sport, and geographic proximity to sport facilities can also limit participation by lower-income families, the Special Rapporteur found.

In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, restrictions on freedom of movement and travel and the destruction of sports facilities have made international competition nearly impossible, the report said

The report also noted that because many amateur and youth leagues serve as pipelines to more elite levels, the inability to access sport as a child may have a lifelong impact on participation, ultimately depriving lower-income children of physical and mental health benefits.

These economic disparities are not race neutral, since in many countries racially discriminatory underdevelopment is a byproduct of colonialism and historical exploitation, according to the report.

For example, in England and Wales, Asian British and Black British cricketers together constituted only 8.1 per cent of male professional cricketers in 2021, while 30 to 35 per cent of the game’s adult recreational population were from ethnically diverse backgrounds, a 2023 report found.

Eligibility rules have unequal effects

The report specifically identifies hijab bans in France as an example of an eligibility regulation with a racially discriminatory effect.

Muslim women, who often face intersectional discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender and religion, are banned by the country’s football and basketball governing bodies from wearing head coverings, creating tension between the right to participate in sport and freedom of religion and expression.

The report also highlights how World Athletics rules for athletes using prosthetics may disproportionately affect Black athletes, and how World Athletics testosterone regulations disproportionately impact women from the global South.

“There is significant potential for discrimination if eligibility regulations are not developed and enforced in alignment with international human rights law, including the prohibition of racial discrimination,” the report reads.

Sports governance remains largely white

Persons from racialised groups are significantly represented in sport leadership positions, largely due to structural issues such as implicit bias, high attribution rates, gaps in data collection and a lack of accountability, according to the report.

For example, the same 2023 report from England and Wales found that Black and South Asian representation in cricket leadership is disproportionately low compared to those groups’ participation in recreational cricket.

In addition, the report found that a “very significant majority” of senior football leadership positions in Europe are held by white men, which could weaken institutional responses to racism.

It also references the Hamilton Commission, established in 2021 by Formula One driver Sir Lewis Hamilton. The Commission’s report found that a very small proportion of senior leadership, team management, technical and engineering capacities and governance structures in motorsports were held by Black persons or persons from other racialised groups.

Promoting equal access

International human rights law provides a framework and an obligation for Member States and sports governance bodies to effectively remedy racial discrimination and ensure meaningful participation of those currently facing discrimination.

The Special Rapporteur recommends that Member States take proactive steps to ensure equal access to sport, implement effective access to remedy for those who have experienced discrimination and invest in public awareness campaigns, education and community projects to build societal support for racial pluralism.

For sports governance bodies, the report recommends identifying barriers to participation, expanding efforts to support access, review eligibility regulations for discriminatory impacts and adopt a human rights-based approach to address racial discrimination in sport.

“Efforts must move beyond symbolic gestures and reactive measures towards comprehensive strategies that address root causes, redistribute opportunities and dismantle entrenched power imbalances and racial hierarchies,” the Special Rapporteur wrote.

Rapporteurs and other independent experts are not UN staff, receive no salary for their work and operate independently from any government or organization.