Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture (Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, 37) 3031384563, 9783031384561

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Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37

Joseph Zajda Yvonne Vissing   Editors

Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture

Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research Volume 37

Series Editor Joseph Zajda, Faculty of Education and Arts, Australian Catholic University, East Melbourne, VIC, Australia Editorial Board Robert Arnove, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA Birgit Brock-Utne, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Martin Carnoy, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA Holger Daun, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Lyn Davies, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK Fred Dervin, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland Karen Evans, University of London, London, UK Kassie Freeman, Alcorn State University, Lorman, MS, USA MacLeans Geo-JaJa, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA Andreas Kazamias, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA Leslie Limage, UNESCO, Paris, France Susan Majhanovich, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada Marcella Mollis, University of Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina Val Rust, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA Yvonne Vissing, Salem State University, Salem, MA, USA Advisory Editors Abdeljalil Akkari, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland Beatrice Avalos, National Ministry of Education, Santiago, Chile Karen Biraimah, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA David Chapman, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA Sheng Yao Cheng, Chung Chen University, Chia-yi, Taiwan Pamela Hallam, McKay School of Education, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA Deborah Henderson, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia Yaacov Iram, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel Henry Levin, Teachers College Columbia University, New York, NY, USA Noel McGinn, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA David Phillips, Oxford University, Oxford, UK Gerald Postglione, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Heidi Ross, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA M’hammed Sabour, University of Joensuu, Joensuu, Finland Jurgen Schriewer, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany Sandra Stacki, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA Nelly Stromquist, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

Carlos Torres, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA John Whitehouse , Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia David Willis, Soai University, Osaka, Japan

The Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research book series aims to meet the research needs of all those interested in in-depth developments in comparative education research. The series provides a global overview of developments and changes in policy and comparative education research during the last decade. Presenting up-to-date scholarly research on global trends, it is an easily accessible, practical yet scholarly source of information for researchers, policy makers and practitioners. It seeks to address the nexus between comparative education, policy, and forces of globalisation, and provides perspectives from all the major disciplines and all the world regions. The series offers possible strategies for the effective and pragmatic policy planning and implementation at local, regional and national levels. The book series complements the International Handbook of Globalisation and Education Policy Research. The volumes focus on comparative education themes and case studies in much greater scope and depth than is possible in the Handbook. The series includes volumes on both empirical and qualitative studies of policy initiatives and developments in comparative education research in elementary, secondary and post-compulsory sectors. Case studies may include changes and education reforms around the world, curriculum reforms, trends in evaluation and assessment, decentralisation and privatisation in education, technical and vocational education, early childhood education, excellence and quality in education. Above all, the series offers the latest findings on critical issues in comparative education and policy directions, such as: ● developing new internal strategies (more comprehensive, flexible and innovative modes of learning) that take into account the changing and expanding learner needs; ● overcoming ‘unacceptable’ socio-economic educational disparities and inequalities; ● improving educational quality; ● harmonizing education and culture; ● international co-operation in education and policy directions in each country.

Joseph Zajda · Yvonne Vissing Editors

Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture

Editors Joseph Zajda Faculty of Education and Arts, School of Education Australian Catholic University East Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Yvonne Vissing Salem State University Chester, NH, USA

ISSN 2543-0564 ISSN 2543-0572 (electronic) Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research ISBN 978-3-031-38456-1 ISBN 978-3-031-38457-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023, corrected publication 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

To Rea, Nikolai, Belinda, Sophie, Imogen

Foreword

Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, the 37th volume in the 48-volume book series Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, analyses major discourses in the study of sports, culture, and human rights. The study of sports has not typically been considered as a human rights field. In recent years, it is clear that athletes have experienced a variety of human rights violations. Some sports organisations are developing athlete bills of rights in response. This book offers current research findings of different types of human rights issues that concern athletes and sports programmes and how organisations are addressing safety and human rights issues. The book will provide an overview of each of the chapters and a synthesis of where the field of sports human rights could be developed. There are both organisational and individual factors associated with human rights. There can be rights violations by coaches, trainers, doctors, or even other athletes. Violations can be physical, sexual, emotional, social, or financial. Organisational policies vary from being very equitable and rights-respecting to those that put athletes at risk or discriminate against them. This book is the first of its kind that links together sports and human rights in a systematic way. It contains chapters that explore human rights in sports from both organisational and interpersonal approaches. The goal of this book is to provide readers with an overview of the importance of human rights policies and practices in sports. The book contributes in a very scholarly way, to a more holistic understanding of the nexus between globalisation, sports, cultures, and human rights. The chapters offer a timely analysis of current issues affecting athletes and sports programmes. The book provides innovative ideas concerning the future directions of sports and human rights in order to promote more engaging and more meaningful knowledge and values of equitable sports programmes, and participating athletes, both locally and globally. East Melbourne, VIC, Australia Salem, MA, USA

Joseph Zajda, Ph.D., FACE Yvonne Vissing, Ph.D.

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Preface

Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, the 37th book in the 48-volume book series Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, discusses major discourses in the study of sports, culture, and human rights. Human rights treaties, like the Convention on the Rights of the Child, hold that protection and safety are a major concern to be addressed by organisations and individuals who are in the positions of being duty-bearers in the implementation of human rights. All individuals have a right to participate in things like sports and to be provided with the access, opportunity, and equipment that will enable them to succeed. This sounds great, but it is not always the way things are. Some individuals are given access and support, but some are not. This disparity is a major concern in the sports field, from the sports that children play through professional team sports. There is a difference in access to sports depending on where one lives. Not all people in all countries have had access to sports. Individuals who have had the most access to sports, as well as social and economic rewards for their participation in them, have been people who display stellar ability. However, research has shown that opportunities are not equally distributed. Some individuals have more opportunities than others to play, be recruited, or be successful in the sport. This is apparent with the dominance of male sports (with male players receiving better pay, resources, and media coverage), race, or ability. The disparity is so pervasive that it has been highlighted in films such as Rudy (focusing on players with ability challenges), The Blind Side (racism), A League of Their Own (gender), or Hoosiers, which focuses on how small-town players are at a disadvantage when trying to compete with more resourced and prestigious teams. The book contains chapters that critique human rights in sports, from both organisational and interpersonal approaches. The goal of this book is to provide readers with a global synthesis of the significance of human rights policies and practices in sports. The chapters contained in this book each pick a particular dimension of

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human rights in sports issues, from a human rights perspective. The book provides innovative ideas concerning the future directions of sports and human in creating a safer, more equitable environment in sports for all. Joseph Zajda, FACE East Melbourne, VIC, Australia Yvonne Vissing, Ph.D. Salem, USA

Editorial by the Series Editor

Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture (Volume 37) is a further publication in the Springer Series of books on Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, by Joseph Zajda. Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture (Volume 37) in the 48-volume book series Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, edited by Yvonne Vissing and Joseph Zajda, examines a global critique of the nexus between globalisation, sports, and athletes and implication for equity, democracy, and human rights. The book analyses the ambivalent and problematic relationship between globalisation, sports, and athletes. Using a number of diverse paradigms, ranging from critical theory to globalisation, the authors, by focusing on globalisation, sports, and, at times, discriminatory practices in competitive sports, attempt to examine critically recent trends in performing sports affecting performing athletes. At the level of critical discourse analysis, we need to consider dominant ideologies and practices defining power, domination, and control in performing sports and implications for human justice. The book offers a synthesis of current research findings on globalisation and sports, with reference to major paradigms and ideologies. The book analyses the shifts in methodological approaches to globalisation, athletes, sports, social justice, and human rights education reforms, paradigms, and their impact on performing athletes globally. The book critiques globalisation, policy, and reforms in performing sports. It is suggested that there is an urgent need to continue to analyse critically the new challenges confronting the governance of performing sports globally, with reference to addressing human rights and social justice. This book critiques dominant discourses and debates pertaining to globalisation, human rights, sports, and culture. It addresses current major discourses concerning globalisation, sports, equality, and human rights. The book critically explores conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches applicable to research on, sports, equality, and human rights. Drawing on diverse paradigms, ranging from critical theory to globalisation, the book, by focusing on globalisation, sports, and human rights, critically examines recent research dealing with this topic. With contributions from key scholars worldwide, the book should be required reading for a broad spectrum of users, including policymakers, academics, graduate xi

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Editorial by the Series Editor

students, education policy researchers, administrators, and practitioners. The book contributes in a very scholarly way, to a more holistic understanding, and knowledge of the nexus between globalisation, sports, and human rights. We thank the anonymous international reviewers who have reviewed and assessed the proposal for the continuation of the series (volumes 37–48), and other anonymous reviewers, who reviewed the chapters in the final manuscript.

Contents

1 Overview of Human Rights in Sports: Why Sports Are a Human Rights Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yvonne Vissing

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2 Commercialization and Economics of Sports: Human Rights Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeremy Levine

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3 Human Rights in Paralympic Sports: Paralympic Treatment—Rolling the Gamut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jonathan Moss

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4 The Era of Globalization and the Impact of Sports as a Human Right: A Sociocultural Dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . José Noronha Rodrigues, Sumanta Bhattacharya, and Dora Cristina Ribeiro Cabete 5 Human Rights and Inclusion: Lessons Learned from the #NotNCAAProperty Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Irene Baker

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6 Human Rights, High School Sports, and Special Education . . . . . . . . . 109 Matthew Speno 7 Governance in the Socio-Cultural Role of Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Kwan Meng Lee and Jady Zaidi Hassim 8 Mental Health as a Human Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Samuel Fuller, Suzanne Potts, Denise Kamyuka, Mesha Jefferson, Mariah Parsons, Christine Pinalto, Cathryn Salladin, and Jenny Sichel

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Contents

9 Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports and Culture: Research Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Yvonne Vissing and Joseph Zajda Correction to: Governance in the Socio-Cultural Role of Sports . . . . . . . . Kwan Meng Lee and Jady Zaidi Hassim

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Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

About the Series Editor

Joseph Zajda B.A. (Hons.), M.A., M.Ed., Ph.D., FACE, co-ordinates and teaches in graduate courses: MTeach courses: (EDES591, EDFX522, and EDSS600) in the Faculty of Education and Arts, at the Australian Catholic University (Melbourne Campus). He specialises in globalisation and education policy reforms, social justice, history education, human rights education, and values education. He has written and edited 52 books and over 150 book chapters and articles in the areas of globalisation and education policy, higher education, history textbooks and curriculum reforms. Recent publications include: Zajda, J. (2023). Discourses of globalisation, cultural diversity and values education. Springer; Zajda, J. (2022). Discourses of globalisation, and the politics of history school textbooks. Springer; Zajda, J. (2022). Globalisation and education reforms: Overcoming discrimination. Springer; Zajda, J. (2021). Globalisation and education reforms: Creating effective learning environments. Springer; Zajda, J. & Majhanovich, S. (2022). Race, ethnicity and gender in education: Emerging paradigms. Springer; Zajda, J. & Vissing, Y. (2022). Discourses of globalisation, ideology, and human rights. Springer; Zajda, J. (Ed). (2021) 3rd International Handbook of Globalisation, Education and Policy Research. Springer; Zajda, J. (2021). Globalisation and education reforms: Creating effective learning. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J. & Majhanovich, S. (Eds.) (2021). Globalisation, cultural identity and nation-building: The changing paradigms. Springer Zajda, J. (Ed.). (2020). Globalisation, Ideology and Education Reforms: Emerging Paradigms. Springer; Zajda, J. (Ed). (2020). Human Rights Education Globally. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J. (Ed.). (2020). Globalisation, Ideology and Neo-Liberal Higher Education Reform. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J. & Rust, V. (2020). Globalisation and comparative education. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J. & Majhanovich, S. (Eds.) (2020). Globalisation, cultural identity and nation-building: The changing paradigms. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J. (2019) (Ed.). Globalisation, ideology and politics of education reforms. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J. (2018). Globalisation and education reforms: Paradigms and ideologies. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J. (2017). Globalisation and National Identity in History Textbooks: The Russian Federation. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, Tsyrlina-Spady & Lovorn (2017) (Eds.). Globalisation and Historiography of National Leaders: Symbolic Representations in School xv

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Textbooks. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda & Ozdowski (2017). (Eds.), Globalisation and Human Rights Education Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda & Rust (Eds.) (2016). Globalisation and Higher Education Reforms. Dordrecht: Springer; Editor and author of the Second International Handbook on Globalisation, Education and Policy Research. Springer, 2015; Zajda, J. (2014). The Russian Revolution. In G. Ritzer & J. M. Ryan (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization Online; Zajda, J. (2014); Zajda, J. (2014). Ideology. In D. Phillips (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy. Thousand Oaks: Sage; Zajda, J. (2014). Values Education. In D. Phillips (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy. Thousand Oaks: Sage; Zajda, J. (2014); Values Education. In D. Phillips (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy. Thousand Oaks: Sage; Zajda, J (2008). Schooling the New Russians. Melbourne: James Nicholas Publishers. He is the Editor of the forty-eight book series Globalisation and Comparative Education (Springer, 2013&2025). He edits the following journals below: http://www.jamesnicholaspublishers.com.au/journals/ct/; Editor, Curriculum and Teaching, volume 38, 2023. http://www.jamesnicholaspublishers.com.au/journals/ es/; Editor, Education and Society, volume 41, 2023. http://www.jamesnicholaspu blishers.com.au/journals/wse/; Editor, World Studies in Education, volume 24, 2023. His works are found in 605 publications in 4 languages and some 11,903 university library holdings globally. He is the recipient of the 2012 Excellence in Research Award, the Faculty of Education, the Australian Catholic University. The award recognises the high quality of research activities, and particularly celebrates sustained research that has had a substantive impact nationally and internationally. He was also a recipient of the Australian Awards for University Teaching in 2011 (Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, for an innovative, influential and sustained contribution to teacher education through scholarship and publication). He received the Vice Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award, at the Australian Catholic University (Melbourne Campus). He was awarded an ARC Discovery Grant (with Monash University) for 2011–2015 for a comparative analysis of history national curriculum implementation in Russia and Australia ($315,000). Elected as Fellow of the Australian College of Educators (June 2013). Completed (with Professor Fred Dervin, University of Helsinki) the UNESCO report: Governance in education: Diversity and effectiveness. BRICS countries. Paris: UNESCO (2022).

About the Contributors

Irene Baker is a science curriculum developer with degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she played Division III basketball and volleyball. As a single mother, she was the main supporter of her son’s sports participation and gained first-hand knowledge that informed the chapter she wrote for this book. Sumanta Bhattacharya is a research scholar at Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal (India) and a policy Analyst. He completed his B.Tech., and M.Tech. in Textile Technology and currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Tech, along with that he has M.A. in development studies, LLB, M.A. in security and defence law, PGDESD, MPI (Oxford University). Being a research scholar he has 194 research papers published in International and Scopus index journals, Wiley, Springer, Hindawi jn various sectors like law, economics, Development studies, Textiles, Climate Change, SDGs, Public policy, Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, cancer, environment studies, 34 Book chapters published, 36 patents International and National, 4 copyrights, attained 60 International and National conference and presented papers and won 18 awards for his excellent in education, policymaking, and innovation. Dora Cristina Ribeiro Cabete is a Ph.D. candidate in Law at the Nova University of Lisbon—Nova School of Law, a Ph.D. candidate in Business Economic Sciences at the School of Business and Economics of the University of the Azores, Master’s and post-graduate degree in Social Sciences at the University of the Azores, Degree in Sociology (UAc) and in Law (UAL). She is a guest lecturer at the Azores University (Portugal), a guest lecturer at the University of Santiago—Cape Verde, and a lawyer. Samuel Fuller is medical student at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and aspiring to become an orthopaedic surgeon with an interest in sports medicine. He graduated from St. Bonaventure University in Olean, NY, in 2019 with a B.S. in Biology and History and a minor in Philosophy, Medicine & Ethics. During his time at St. Bonaventure, Samuel was a 4-year co-captain for the Division I NCAA baseball team and a 2-time Academic All-American. His interests include mental health of athletes, orthopaedic sports injuries, and concussions. He

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About the Contributors

is part of the Athletes for Hope organisation assisting athletes in mental health and other sports-related issues. Jady Zaidi Hassim is the Dean and Associate Professor at the National University of Malaysia (UKM). He has taught sports law, land law and administrative law at undergraduate and post-graduate levels at the Faculty of Law, UKM since 2010. He was appointed as Legal Committee by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to assist FAM in fundamental legal issues related to football. At present, he has been appointed as a committee member in the National Dispute Resolution Chamber (NDRC). In 2016, Jady was assigned to the Sports Policy and Strategic Planning, Ministry of Youth & Sports Malaysia as an Engagement Expert to help with the amendment of the Sports Development Act 1997 (Act 576 & A1570). Jady is also a certified mediator of the Malaysian Mediation Centre. He has published many articles and books related to sports law such as, Sports Law in Malaysia: Governance & Legal Issues (Sweet & Maxwell, 2018) and Sports Law: Malaysia (International Encyclopaedia of Laws: Kluwer, 2020). Mesha Jefferson is a rowing coach from Texas and MSSW candidate serving multiple communities by direct practice with children, young adults, and families. Proficient skills working one on one with clients and the ability to adapt to an ever changing environment of needs while working with colleagues. Recognised by peers and coworkers for keen problem-solving skills and a willingness to address any task. Denise Kamyuka is an experienced Project Manager and Western University Ph.D. student with demonstrated success working in the higher education and sports industry. She is knowledgable in Global Health, Social Entrepreneurship, Research, Project management, and Marketing. Accomplished academic and sport industry professional with a Master’s degree, focused in Sports Business Management from St. John’s University, New York; a post-graduate diploma in Business administration from WITS Business School; and a Bachelor’s in Pharmacy from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. Lee Kwan Meng is currently an independent scholar and researcher as well as an Expert Team member of DWC Consultancy. He was previously a Research Fellow with the Institute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia, as well as its alumni. He has a doctorate in Extension Education focusing on youth mentoring as well as a Master of Science in Park and Outdoor Recreation. He had written extensively in books, academic journals, and conference proceedings. His academic and professional areas are in sports, recreation, camping, youth mentoring, extension and nonformal learning, youth development, and professional youth work where he had also published his works. He is a member of the World Leisure Organization (WLO), International Federation of Physical Education, Fitness and Sports Science Association (IFPEFSSA). He had also done extensive work with the Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia, Institute of Youth Research Malaysia, Anti-doping Agency of Malaysia, Duke of Edinburgh International Youth Award Program, and the Commonwealth Secretariat London.

About the Contributors

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Jeremy Levine is a first-year Ph.D. student in sociology at Stony Brook University. He has also previously been an Adjunct Professor at multiple universities in New York and New Jersey in sociology, economics, business, and political science. Jonathan Moss is a fencing coach and referee for Paralympic sport. He has 30 years as head fencing coach at the University of New Hampshire. He has been a national referee for over 40 years, an international referee for 25 years, and has been an international wheelchair referee since 1996. He has served as a referee at five Paralympic games and was head referee at one. He has been a referee at every wheelchair world championship since 2002 and was Chair of the Wheelchair referee commission from 2016 to 2021. Mariah Parsons was a rowing athlete at Notre Dame and now is affiliated with Athletes for Hope. She is well known for her work on The Whole Being Athlete Series, a platform for athletes to share their stories about their own mental health journey. She is currently a DEI and engagement fellow at the ORR Fellowship. Christine Pinalto is Executive Director of Sidelined USA, a nonprofit organisation which provides support resources for athletes forced to discontinue competition due to career-ending injuries, health conditions, or repeat concussions. Christine is leading efforts to raise awareness about the psychological impact of medically-forced exit from sport and educates the sports medicine community on improved patient care for medically disqualified (MDQ) athletes. Additionally, she advocates for improved after-care for MDQ student-athletes on a national scale. Her passion for advocating for sidelined athletes was spawned from her personal journey supporting her son in his experience as a MDQ athlete in his young teen years. Recognising the significant lack of resources available to support sidelined athletes in their transitions forward, Christine and her son together founded their organisation in 2016. Their mission is to reunite permanently sidelined athletes with their passions and inspire them to find a meaningful way forward through resources, connection, and new pursuits. Suzanne Potts LMSW, MPH, is the Chief Wellbeing Officer at Athletes for Hope (AFH) and an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas, Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work. With AFH, Suzanne oversees the Whole Being Athlete Mental Health and the AFH University programmes, educating and connecting professional, Olympic, Paralympic, and student-athletes to charitable opportunities across various communities. She was most recently the Executive Director for the Autism Society of Texas where she helped the organisation build capacity for events, fundraising, and statewide programmes. Suzanne previously worked at LIVESTRONG as the community programme officer for community grants, programme manager at OneStar Foundation, and at the San Diego Workforce Partnership as the youth programme manager providing programme design, evaluation and monitoring for Youth Workforce Investment Act funds. Suzanne has broad nonprofit and foundation experience and worked as a social worker, capacity builder, and funder for over 25 years. She has served as a nonprofit consultant for over a decade and has expertise in programme design, evaluation, advocacy, and communication with nonprofits.

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About the Contributors

Sarah Hamilton Rigg is a Principal Lecturer in the Animal Science Program at the University of New Hampshire and was Director of the Equine Program for 15 years, during which time she coached the Intercollegiate Dressage Team to a National Championship. She is a Dressage Technical Delegate for the United States Equestrian Federation and a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics. José Noronha Rodrigues Doctor in Law (Ph.D.) “CUM LAUDE”, by the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), recognised the equivalence of the degree of Doctor in Law by the Lisbon University Faculty of Law, DEA in European Union Law (2008), Master in International Relations (2004), Post-Graduate in Regional Law (1998), Post-Graduate in Labor Law (2003) and Graduated in Law (1996). He is Vice-President of the School of Business and Economics and integrated member of the CEDIS—Centre for Research on Law and Society (CEDIS)—NOVA School of Law (Portugal), Scientific Coordinator of the Master’s Degree in Company and Employment Law, as well as of the Degree in Law at the University of Santiago— Cape Verde, Visiting Professor in the Master’s Degree in Civil Law and in the Master’s Degree in Tax Law at the Catholic University of Mozambique, Delegate for the Azores of the Instituto de Derecho Ibereamericano and President of the Gaspar Frutuoso Foundation. He also holds the Chair of the Policy Center for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Cathryn Salladin was a swimmer for Rutgers University where she is completing her Master’s in Social Work degree. She is a former U.S. National Team member for Open Water swimming and was a member of the 2017 World Championships team where she competed in the 25-kilometre event. Following her stint on the National Team, she suffered a career-altering injury and severe overtraining syndrome, both of which greatly affected her mental health and relationship to the sport of swimming. Through her experience in swimming and in life, she has gained immense passion for mental health, specifically athletes’ mental health. She has experience as a Campus Captain for The Hidden Opponent, a student speaker and advocate for the Release Recovery Foundation, and as a social worker planning for a career in the mental health field. She enjoys using her passion for storytelling, poetry, and speaking as a way to spread awareness for mental health and fight the stigma, specifically in the arena of athletics. Jenny Sichel is a disability justice advocate and is associated with Team USA and Athletes for Hope. She is a 2016 Rio Paralympic Silver Medalist in the PR3 4+, a five-time World Rowing Championship Silver Medalist, and a seven-time member of the US Rowing Para National Team. She recently made the switch from the boat to the launch and once again represented Team USA at the Tokyo Paralympics as the coach for the PR1 W1x. When she’s not on the water, Jenny works in disability advocacy as the Operations Director for the National Council on Independent Living and is currently getting her Master’s Degree in Public Administration. Matthew Speno is a community minded educator who earned his doctorate at the University of New England, located in Maine, USA. With a keen interest in

About the Contributors

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vocational education policy, Matthew conducts research on how vocational education learning pathways are considered, developed, and implimented. Dr. Speno is a current Postdoctoral fellow with the Center of Childhood and Youth Studies out of Salem State University where conducts important research and collaborates on valuable conversations about youth transitions to post secondary school or career along with youth access to vocational education. Matthew sits on several school and non-profit boards to ensure powerful questions are being asked about sensitive issues surrounding marginalised groups and access to educational pathways built a foundation that considers the impact of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. Yvonne Vissing Ph.D., is a Professor of Healthcare Studies, focusing on health policy and public health, and the Founding Director of the Center for Childhood & Youth Studies at Salem State University. She is the US policy chair for the Hope for Children Convention on the Child Policy Center in Cyprus, on the Steering Committee for Human Rights Educators USA, and is on the AAAS Human Rights Council. Vissing is author of 17 books, including Children’s Human Rights in the USA: Challenge & Opportunities (Springer 2023), Changing the Paradigm of Homelessness (Routledge 2020), and The Rights of Unaccompanied Minors (Springer 2021). A clinical sociologist, National Institute of Mental Health Post-Doctoral Research Fellow on child abuse and Whiting Foundation fellow studying child rights, she was also a Dialogue and Democracy fellow at UCONN’s Dodd Center for Human Rights. She is a graduate of Equitas International Human Rights Training Program in Montreal. She is CEO of Training for Excellence. Joseph Zajda Ph.D. FACE, teaches in the Faculty of Education and Arts at the Australian Catholic University (Melbourne Campus. He is a world-renowned scholar in the area of globalization, education policy reforms, values education, education for social justice, and human rights. He has published 54 books (including 11 monographs and 30 edited books with Springer) and hundreds of book chapters and articles in refereed journals internationally. He was awarded the 2012 Peter Sheehan Excellence in Research Award. The award recognises the high quality of research activities, and particularly celebrates sustained research that has had a substantive impact nationally and internationally (Faculty of Education, Australian Catholic University). He received an Australian Award for University Teaching, July 2011, for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning for his innovative, influential and sustained contribution to teacher education through scholarship and publication. Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Australian Catholic University. By virtue of his book publications, he has made an outstanding contribution to research in education globally. Scientific index 2023 lists him as 581st out of 1,345,218 researchers in the world (or top 0.5%). His published research includes works in 665 publications in 4 languages and 12,524 library holdings (WorldCat catalogue). He is education editor for Curriculum and Teaching, Educational Practice and Theory, Education and Society, World Studies in Education, and consulting editor for the UNESCO International Review of Education.

Chapter 1

Overview of Human Rights in Sports: Why Sports Are a Human Rights Issue Yvonne Vissing

Abstract The study of sports has not typically been considered as a human rights field. In recent years it is clear that athletes have experienced a variety of human rights violations. As a result, many sports programs have been confronted with criminal violations of abuse and maltreatment. Some sports organizations are developing athlete bills of rights in response. This chapter provides an overview of the different types of human rights issues that concern athletes and sports programs and the issue of how organizations are addressing safety and human rights issues. It sets the stage for the remaining chapters in this book. Keywords Sports · Human rights · Athletes · Bill of rights · Litigation

1.1 Introduction The study of sports has not typically been considered in the context of human rights, but in recent years it is clear that athletes have experienced a variety of human rights violations. Sports organizations are in the position to set standards that support the implementation of rights-respecting attitudes and actions. Many sports programs have been confronted with criminal violations or allegations of abuse and maltreatment. Some are developing athlete bills of rights in response. This chapter provides an overview of the different types of human rights issues that concern athletes and sports programs. It sets the stage for the remaining chapters in this book. The Conclusions chapter at the end of this book will provide an overview of each of the chapters and a synthesis of where the field of sport human rights could be developed. There are both organizational and individual factors associated with human rights. There can be rights violations by coaches, trainers, doctors, parents, spectators, other adults, or even other athletes. Violations can be physical, sexual, emotional, Y. Vissing (B) Department of Healthcare Studies, Salem State University, Salem, MA, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing (eds.), Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_1

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social, or financial. Organizational policies vary from being very equitable and rightsrespecting to those that put athletes at risk or discriminate against them. This book is the first of its kind that links together sports and human rights in a systematic way. It contains chapters that will explore human rights in sports from both organizational and interpersonal approaches. The goal of this book is to provide readers with an overview of the importance of human rights policies and practices in sports.

1.1.1 What Are Sports? It may be customary to think about sports concerning competitive team sports organizations such as a soccer team, but according to the United Nations Interagency Taskforce on Sport for Development and Peace, the concept of sport includes physical activities that go beyond competitive sports. Incorporated into the definition of ‘sport’ or ‘sports’ are all forms of activities that contribute to physical fitness, mental well-being, and social interaction, including play; recreation; organized, casual or competitive sport; and indigenous sports or games. The field of sports is typically divided into either participatory or spectator activities (Torrens University, 2020). A general definition has implied that there should be physical exertion or skill in sport, competition between players or teams, and a defined set of rules that the competition is to follow. Sport is a way for people to stay healthy; it is also a recreation that facilitates the creation of play and fun. Sports are also regarded as a distraction from normal work. The word sport hails from the Latin words disportare or desport, which means distribute to separate from one another (Ekmekci & Ekmekci, 2009; Ekmekçi et al., 2013). Accurate numbers of how many people worldwide play sports are unclear, but sports seems to be a part of every culture across time and place. Certain trends are apparent; one is that all around the world, people play, participate in, or watch sports. Males and younger people are more likely to be involved in sports activities and events than females, likely due to opportunities and gender role designations. Older people tend to be less involved in direct athletic pursuits and more likely to be spectators, but involvement in sport may vary by opportunity, health condition of the individual, and the type of sport considered. Data shows that in 2021, 232.6 million Americans took part in sports and fitness activities according to a State of the Industry Report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association and Sports Marketing Surveys (Broughton, 2022). That report also found that the cost to participate in sports and to purchase equipment, apparel, and other gear has also increased, resulting in a booming sports business industry. According to Stanford Medicine (2022), about 30 million people under age 18 in the USA participate in some form of organized sports. A Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health study found that three in four adults played sports when they were younger (73%). While only one in four (25%) continue to play sports as adults, the majority of those who become parents encourage their

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children to play sports, with a quarter of parents hoping their children will become professional athletes (Datz, 2015). Veroutsos (2022) found that the most popular sports around the world are soccer, with over 3.5 billion fans; cricket and hockey each report having over 2 billion fans while tennis and volleyball report around one billion fans. Table tennis reports more fans than basketball (850 million versus 800 million, respectively). Rugby cites over 475 million fans and golf over 450 million people. The goal in most sports is to exceed a competitor’s team or individual score. With the rise of activities considered as sport, however, the criteria for what exactly constitutes a sport has become vague and debated. For instance, there is a big difference between playing football, basketball, bowling, tennis, track and field, sportscar racing, archery, golf, darts, chess, pinball, or e-sports. There has been a huge rise of online sporting games. These may range from computer games to gambling on sports. eSports reports a viewership of 650 million around the world; chess has over 600 million active players, ranking them 8th and 9th place for the world’s most popular sports. Are these actual sports? Are activities like snow mobile riding or deer hunting a sport? Some would say so, but exactly how does that fit into the larger definition? Recreational activities may require skill, but should they accurately be described as sports? There is significant debate and controversy over exactly what constitutes sports (Wang, 2021). Each of these types can be associated with different types of human rights issues or potential violations.

1.1.2 What Are Human Rights? Human rights are universal and supposed to apply to everyone, just because we are human beings. The United Nations (UN) identifies at least 30 rights to which all people are entitled. The origin of “human rights” lies in the nature of the human being itself and is operationalized in all the world’s major religions and moral philosophies throughout history. Today the term “human rights” is associated with the rise of a democratic state that legitimizes legislation and bureaucratic functioning through the creation of laws, policies, and practices. Human rights treaties are to be signed, ratified, implemented, monitored and defended as they are embedded into everyday life, organizations, governments, and institutions. In contemporary society, the rise of human rights is typically associated with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was developed after the horrors of World War II. Since then, there have been at least ten major human rights treaties but hundreds of iterations of them. The refinement of human rights has resulted in order to make it clear how states and organizations should comply with them and to integrate rights-respecting behavior into laws, policies, practices, and everyday human interactions. The major human rights treaties are:

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Name of treaty

Year

UDHR

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

1948

CERD

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

1965

ICCPR

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

1966

ICESCR

International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

1966

CEDAW

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

1979

CAT

Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

1984

CRC

Convention on the Rights of the Child

1989

ICMW

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers/Families

1990

CPED

International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance

2006

CRPD

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2006

These treaties indicate that human rights issues have relevance to all sports. Particularly, CERD implies that there should be no racial discrimination in any sport; ICESCR targets the role of sports on economic, social, and cultural rights for players and those who are engaged in them. ICCPR spotlights how sports are a form of both political and civil rights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child addresses particular issues of making sure children are provided the right to access sports and participate in them, and be protected when they are. CEDAW addresses gender rights and equality in sports, while CRPD does for persons with ability challenges. In short, all of the major human rights treaties are relevant to the field of sports law, theory, research, and practice. For a detailed description of the international human rights treaties and their ratification status by country, visit the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library.1

1.1.3 Pressures Forcing Human Rights Issues in Sports Sports at both the professional and lay levels have largely ignored human rights issues. Problems that have gained public attention and demands for greater attention to human rights range include physical, emotional, and sexual safety. Issues of discrimination, particularly around race, gender, ability, and geography, are worldwide concerns. Compensation for athletes can range from zero to multi-millions of dollars; salaries for sports team owners and administrators may be even higher.

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University of Minnesota Human Rights Library. http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/.

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What players are recruited, the salaries they receive and the resources provided, all are rights-based issues. The study of human rights in sports is multi-dimensional. Not only does it pertain to all of the different types of sports, it is also relevant to the study at both the macro and micro levels of society. Sports organizations have become billion-dollar multinational, bureaucratic industries. The presence of sports and teams impacts professional organizations, communities, schools, and independent organizations. Athlete focus ranges from toddlers, young children, teens, young adults, middle-aged, and older individuals. The pervasive nature of sports makes the analysis of human rights implementation a relevant field of inquiry with huge organizational and individual implications. In this book, just a few of the issues will be highlighted in the following chapters. What this book indicates is that the development of a discipline of human rights in sports cuts across many fields of study. It has direct relevance to theoretical, methodological, and pragmatic concerns. There is much discussion about the development of human rights in sports, but as this chapter will show, what is considered athlete rights may vary considerably. There is no overarching, comprehensive athlete bill of rights that currently exists now. The development of a systematic, just, and inclusive bill of rights for all sports and players would make a significant contribution to the advancement of human rights implementation in sports.

1.2 Sports, HR and SDG Sports can be considered a dimension of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN, 2022), also known as the Global Goals. These were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. There are 17 SDG global goals that are integrated in such a way that action in one area will affect outcomes in others. They propose that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability and are designed to end poverty, hunger, HIV/AIDS, and discrimination, particularly against women, girls, and marginalized groups. Sport has become a mainstream feature of policy and development agendas across the world. Nelson Mandela’s 2000 speech at the Laureus Sport for Good Awards promoted the notion that sport has the power to change the world. This view has gained traction in both domestic and international policy discourse. Its support has focused on health, education, community initiatives, environmental protection campaigns, humanitarian and human rights programs, peace and reconciliation schemes, a trend towards corporate social responsibility, and the expansion of elite sporting foundations and charitable endeavors (Coalter, 2007; Morgan et al., 2021). Morgan et al. (2021) explored the contribution of sport to the SDGs. Although not overtly cited within the SDGs, sport has been widely accepted and promoted as an enabler of social change and a mechanism through which to strategically map and

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measure commitments to sustainability. In an analysis of secondary data collected by the Commonwealth Games Federation from 62 Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) authors identify specific areas of strength, or those in need of further development to present a baseline for the current state of play in the understanding of sport’s contribution to the SDG goals (Giulianotti et al., 2018; Lemke, 2016; Lindsey & Chapman, 2017). They contend that a more detailed understanding of the sport landscape is critical to ensuring theoretical perspectives on development are representative of sport for development practice. This can provide important insights which might help to shape capacity-building, policy, and theoretical development in relation to the role of sport as a tool for sustainable development. The SDGs focus on integration between different components of social life, and sports can be an excellent vehicle for such integration. As an example, Brittain and Wolff (2015) discuss the importance of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), which defines social exclusion as a process by which certain groups are systematically disadvantaged because they are discriminated against on the basis of their ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, caste, descent, gender, age, disability, HIV status, migrant status or where they live. Discrimination occurs in public institutions, such as the legal system or education and health services, as well as social institutions like the household. DFID identifies social exclusion as a priority because it both causes poverty and impedes poverty reduction. Moreover, poverty reduction policies rarely reach socially excluded groups unless they are specifically designed to include them. The DFID highlights that social exclusion is a leading cause of conflict and insecurity. There is a growing body of evidence that sport may have an effective role to play in improving challenges faced by people with disabilities broadly. Beyond research initiatives, there is growing awareness, momentum, and commitment to inclusive sport for development. Paragraph 37 in the new United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development reads: Sport is also an important enabler of sustainable development. We recognise the growing contribution of sport to the realisation of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect and the contributions it makes to the empowerment of women and of young people, individuals and communities as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives.

Further in the revised UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport that was adopted in November of 2015, Article 11.3 states that Sport for development and peace initiatives should be inclusive, and culture-, gender-, age- and disability-sensitive, and include strong monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. They should encourage local ownership of projects and embody the same principles of sustainability and integrity as other physical education, physical activity and sport initiatives.

Although the use of sport to contribute to all of the SDGs would appear impractical or divert resources away from the existing work that has demonstrated considerable positive impact, there is clear potential for (inter)national sports organizations to re-think previous strategic responses and establish coherent and better coordinated

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policy approaches to delivering on SDG obligations (Morgan et al., 2021). In short, sports can be a positive vehicle for the creation of global social change and good health (Banda, 2017).

1.2.1 Social Change Social change occurs through pivotal social events and pressures. Common sources of social change include population growth and composition changes, technology, environmental issues, conflict, political and economic pressures, cultural diffusion, and the rise of disease, to name a few. Theories of social change evolve; they are not static and alter across time to address social and technological factors (Flor, 2021; Moore, 1960). Sports, their players, the location of games, how the games are run, and the organizations that coordinate their activities, are all subject to these social forces. Sports as a singular phenomenon incorporates all of these different factors associated with social change. Sport-for-change programs have emerged across the world. The sports-for-change programs are associated with both theoretical and practical implications. As an approach, they are regarded as controversial by some skeptics, while others view it as an essential mechanism to promote both international development and global peace (Coalter, 2013, 2015; Lindsey, 2017). Wagstaff and Parker (2020) observe that in some African nations, there is a disappearance of traditional cultural pathways and rites of passage, and sports can fill that void in many instances. However, as Giulianotti et al (2019) and Hartmann and Kwauk (2011) note, globalization of sports may rely upon a top-down, global north model instead of a grass-roots development approach that is more commonly found in other parts of the world. While intentions to empower athletes and communities around the world may be part of the sport for change model, they warn that top-down approaches are associated with the reinforcement of global inequalities. These inequalities may be particularly pronounced with respect to race, gender, ableism, and social class. Institutions, governments, politics, ideologies, forms of production and ways of life have taken a new form by the globalization, particularly with the impacts of technology, ideology, and economic factors. Twenty-two African countries boycotted the 1976 Montreal Olympics games, Taiwan boycotted the organizing committee because the People’s Republic of China was in this committee, 65 countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics Games under the pretext of the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan, and LGBTQI+ boycotts occurred at the 2022 Qatar World Cup games. Sport continues to be a major tool in international relations. It is a vehicle for spreading democracy, the free market, and freedom as it has become a decisive instrument in national and international politics. A clear example of this is the controversial LIV Golf series in Saudi Arabia. Designed as an alternative to the PGA Tour, the LIV Golf series recruited golfers from around the world to compete for a prize purse of 285 million dollars. Which golfers decide to play, or who refuse to, showcases the tension of buying players off to enhance Saudi Arabia’s global image that has

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been severely tarnished around Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s involvement in the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi government’s alleged involvement in the 9/11 attacks in New York (Mohan, 2022). As a global phenomenon, sport impacts the governmental socio-economic conditions of communities and consumption accelerated by globalization (Boyacıo˘glu & O˘guz, 2016). Boyacıo˘glu and O˘guz (2016) remind us that sports has long been a political tool; Benito Mussolini used the 1934 FIFA World Cup to showcase fascism in Italy, Adolf Hitler used the 1936 summer Olympics to promote the Nazi ideology’s superiority of the Aryan race, in South Africa rugby was used to protest against apartheid, until the mid-twentieth century in Ireland people could be banned if playing sports administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, athletes were murdered for political reasons at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, to name a few examples. Andreff (2006) studied the role of sports in developing countries and found that it has not been a widely addressed issue but one that is important in the sociocultural evolution of the global world. There has been a lack of economic development and major sporting events in developing nations as compared with those that are more developed. There has been a recruitment of talented players in developing nations to the European and North American labour markets, which is a talent drain for developing nations to establish their own power-house teams. He encourages a redevelopment of traditional sports, which would not require sophisticated sports facilities or imported sporting goods, the incorporation of sports into schools so that all children have the opportunity to learn and enjoy them, and the increase of bilateral international cooperation between sport and developing countries. Scholars argue that it is important to take a more active stance to support sport development in developing nations (Levermore, 2008) and to consider the legacy, reputation, or political pressure that sports play within them (Knott & Tinaz, 2022). Qatar’s 2022 acquisition of the World Cup contract is filled with issues that have little to do with its history as a football leading nation.

1.2.2 Sports Human Rights and Political Correctness Pressures Sports organizations have the opportunity to create reputations that lend themselves to the support of equality and human rights. They can set standards for how other organizations should behave. For instance, sports teams are changing team names that are associated with discrimination. Revulsion against team names like the Washington Redskins, Seattle Seahawks, Bradley Braves, Iowa Hawkeyes, San Diego State University Aztecs, Illinois Fighting Illini, Cleveland Indians, University of Utah Utes, Florida State Seminoles, William & Mary Tribe, Alcorn State Braves, St. John’s Red Storm, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks, Kansas City Chiefs, Golden State Warriors, or the Central Michigan Chippewas, is indicative of social change that is more rights-respecting (Tracy, 2013).

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The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, sponsors the World Cup, which is the premiere soccer competition worldwide. FIFA has promoted itself as a pro-human rights organization, but this view was called into question during the 2022 World Cup games. The selection of Qatar to host the games was concerning to many, including Qatar’s record on human rights, its treatment of women, migrant workers, LGBTQI individuals, its negative environmental impact, its treatment of journalists, and its position on consumables like alcohol. Accusations of sportswashing and bribery have been rampant; it has been alleged that Qatar has a limited football history and that significant corrupt monetary and pressures were involved during the bidding process that resulted in this nation being selected for the games (Davies et al., 2022; Elcombe, 2022; Elcombe et al., 2022; Miller, 2014). Concerns exist that hosting the World Cup in a nondemocratic nation will send a wrong-headed message to the public, sports teams, and the industry. For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, they selected 11 cities in the United States, three cities in Mexico and two cities in Canada as sites for the 80 matches to be held by 48 different teams. The selected cities include Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will mark the first time that three countries have hosted the competition (US Soccer, 2022). Cities wishing to host the games have had to put forward human rights statements and standards, ostensibly in response to the Qatar controversy and to improve FIFA’s reputation as a human rights advocate. As part of the host city and stadia selection process for the FIFA World Cup 2026, FIFA required all 22 candidate cities to conduct human rights stakeholder engagement and produce a report outlining the stakeholder engagement process, its results, and the city’s human rights plans in relation to the competition and submit Host City Human Rights Declarations in which they committed to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights in all activities associated with the hosting of the FWC 2026, and to support FIFA in implementing their operations in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and FIFA’s own human rights commitment. FIFA commissioned the business and human rights consultancy firm Ergon Associates to conduct an independent evaluation of all candidate city human rights reports prior to the city selection (Ergon, 2022; FIFA, 2022). One can anticipate that human rights issues will continue to dominate conversation around future World Cup games.

1.2.3 Sports as a Vehicle for Promoting Peace, Social Justice, and Human Rights Just as sports can become a vehicle for learning teamwork and interpersonal collaboration, they can also be used to overcome global challenges as well. The Olympics Committee and FIFA are in the position to be the premier organizations within sport, thereby putting them in a powerful position to set both standards and role modeling

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of acceptable behavior. As the Qatar controversy showcased, human rights in sports can set standards for how the bidding is conducted, if there are mechanisms to limit corruption and political pressure, what businesses are allowed and which are not, what teams are allowed to play, the ability of players to take positions on their rights or social issues, if the workers, as well as players, are treated fairly, how media covers events, as well as a plethora of other rights related factors. Large international sporting events have huge economic, political, and media impacts. How people get treated in them sets a standard for what is acceptable, and what is not. These sporting events are covered in real time by countries around the world, thereby bringing together the global community to participate in them and be witnesses to what happens. There are few other phenomena that can unite the global community like sporting events. It is natural for teams, communities, and nations to get behind a particular sport or team, but when engaged in international competition, sports can also be used to enhance development and the pursuit of peace (Giulianotti, 2011; Lindblom et al., 2022). Issues of fairness, justice, and equity are essential in transforming sports into a vehicle for peace and social justice. Implementation of the guidelines set forth in the different human rights treaties, as identified earlier, can help establish actions and a culture that reflects the importance of how people are to be treated. The way sports organizations treat players, participants, observers, and the larger communities during worldwide sporting events bridges what happens in a localized occurrence to implementation at a global level. Attitudes and actions, policies and practices, and an international set of norms can be established through sporting events, giving this field tremendous power as a change-maker.

1.3 Disciplinary and Pedagogical Issues Human rights is inherently an interdisciplinary topic that is relevant to any and every area of study and practice, but it is not always considered as such. Similarly, the study of sports has been siloed into a limited number of fields, such as sportsfocused programs. But the study of sports is now being recognized for its relevance to other areas of study as well. Whitley et al (2022) write extensively about the potential for transdisciplinary research in Sport for Development. They note that the Sport for Development (SfD) field is transdisciplinary by nature, yet scholars tend to stay within their disciplinary perspectives in their study of it. Pohl and Wuelser (2019) assert that to address transdisciplinary topics like human rights in sports, it is important to integrate knowledge of how different fields conceptualize the issue. They encourage experts from different fields to come together and share knowledge, expectations, and assumptions so that the field can move forward. Disciplines are social constructs that have conceptual, theoretical, philosophical, and methodological tendencies, while fields are cross-disciplinary areas of inquiry and practice that require multiple perspectives to understand and address complex social problems (Stokols et al., 2013). The value of a cross-disciplinary approach as it pertains to human rights of sports can inspire cutting-edge research and help

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develop conceptual, theoretical, philosophical, and methodological approaches to enhance understanding and identify solutions (Whitley et al., 2022). Whitley et al. (2022) identify how sports, like human rights, are becoming a part of a variety of academic disciplines and fields of higher education. For instance, the emergence of sport sociology, the anthropological study of sports, sports management, sports in business and commerce, recreation sports, sports psychology, sports politics, health aspects of sports, sports and public health, sports as a form of interpersonal and civic engagement, sports as community bonding, sports branding, sports communication and journalism, sports and leisure, sports media, sports and intersectionality, sports and development, sports and equality, and both physical and sports education, have grown significantly in recent years. Sports scientists prefer the word “Sport Education” rather than the earlier term “Body Education”, which at the end of the twentieth century led to a new branch of academic discipline called “Sport Sciences”. This shift in terminology reflects the contemporary understanding that sports may have many more implications than just body and physical issues. Sports scientists study the sporting movements under several scientific branches such as exercise physiology, biomechanics, sociology, philosophy, psychology, pedagogy biochemistry, business, and mass media. As a science, it explores the nature of the human and social behavior, and their mental structures, by means of activities, games, competitions as well as physically the human body. The branch of sport sociology studies it as a social institution and a social system (Boyacıo˘glu & O˘guz, 2016). The importance of developing a cogent sport pedagogy is now a topic discussed by many sports experts. How should we talk and teach about it? Similarly, the development of a human rights pedagogy is also underway. Beacom and Golder (2015) remind us that the university sector has the capacity to contribute extensively to expanding our understanding of sport, especially disability sport, at the local, regional, and global levels. University-led approaches could inform programming, practices, policies, and procedures, as well as the creation of theories and research. The implications for adopting critical pedagogic approaches on research, teaching, and learning can benefit students, academics, organizations, and the public as a whole. Moreover, the global political and developmental significance of an interdisciplinary appreciation of disability sport supports the international development movement and the SDS Millennium Development Goals. Radice (2013) observes that higher education has changed from focusing on the production of scholarly knowledge to the production of marketable skills for organizational use and public management. Work-based practice, as compared to academic production, is an increasingly driving pressure facing higher education and academic disciplines. Public/community/civic engagement, public policy development, student and social enterprise, and interpersonal information exchanges are all issues that confront how sports (especially concerning equity and ability) are addressed within the academy. The changing role of pedagogy, theory development, and research methodologies are showcased in how higher education and academic disciplines, like the sports fields, address human rights issues, particularly for marginalized and oppressed individuals. McArthur (2010) and Castells (2014) too observes the changing role of higher education in society and argues that the university is a critical

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source of equalisation of chances and democratisation of society by making possible equal opportunities for people—this is not only a contribution to economic growth, it is a contribution to social equality. Developing a critical pedagogy is now an essential part of the growth of all academic disciplines (Giroux, 1997). Because most disciplines are inherently silos with methodological, theoretical, and conceptual boundaries, it will take some time to cross-fertilize the interdisciplinary integration. Failure to do so will result in missed opportunities. Merging the two, sports and human rights, into a sensible pedagogical approach is on the horizon. As Whitley et al., (2022, p. 14) state: The nature of academia steers us to affiliate ourselves with a particular discipline. A strength in this model is that we tend to become steeped in the literature on a certain topic, developing expertise and precision in articulating and examining very specific issues. However, as we develop this deep but narrow focus, we become accustomed to wearing blinders . We forget that these disciplines, theories, and questions we ask are constructed and somewhat arbitrary…. This fragmented approach is not how people, programs, or communities work. They are complex, dynamic, and integrated….. as a scholarly community, we will benefit from understanding the conceptual, theoretical, philosophical, and methodological approaches of the different disciplines. Such a transdisciplinary approach allows us all to work from our strengths, yet see how our strengths fit into the whole.

1.4 Benefits of Sports There are many positive outcomes associated for people who wish to become involved in sports at various levels. Sports can be a vehicle to improve social relationships, social competence, as well as physical and mental health (James et al., 2021). The physical benefits are plentiful, ranging from increased cardiovascular capacity, improved muscle tone and mobility, greater blood flow and respiratory functions. Athletic activity reduces the likelihood of obesity and sedentary outcomes, which are linked to a host of adverse health outcomes. Diseases like cancer are reduced with regular exercise. Emotional benefits include self-esteem, better control, a sense of belonging, and an identification with a group that is larger than oneself. Social benefits include inclusion, appreciation of diversity, greater tolerance of difference, and support for people with disabilities. Recreational sports consist of a wide array of activities that can be positive for the development of people’s physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development (Herzog, 2018; Rodriguez-Bravo et al., 2020; Tokarski & Zarotis, 2020). Playing sports is associated with positive physical and mental health (Datz, 2015). Sports, in a traditional context, are associated with physical use of one’s body, thereby improving muscle tone, respiration, heart function, and general overall health. Emotional benefits from sports have been documented to include perception, processing, comprehension, and emotional management (Wagstaff et al., 2012). The field of recreational sports includes The Recreational Sports Journal, a scholarly, peer-reviewed publication of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) Foundation. The purpose of the journal is to provide a source

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of empirical, theoretical, and applied research to the field of recreational sports, including topics like student development, programming, and organizational development. NIRSA regulates various sports through the collegiate systems across the United States. Sports are identified as a vehicle for reducing social inequality (Elsborg et al., 2019). Sport is identified as a way to distract youth from self-destructive behaviors and to engage them in more pro-social behaviors (Wagstaff & Parker, 2020). Sports can be theorized to be a positive social intervention, especially when it is grown from grass-roots organizations (Hartmann, 2003). Interestingly, the generalization of what is learned from sports teamsmanship has been used to reconceptualize healthcare as a team sport (Breitbach et al., 2017). They found that all organizations value teamwork and collaboration as they strive to build culture and attain their goals and objectives. Sports provide a useful and easily accessible means to study teamwork. Interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) has been identified as a means of improving patient and population health outcomes. Principles of teamwork in sports can inform health professionals and organizations regarding possible improvement strategies and barriers in the optimization of IPCP. Athletic trainers and other sports medicine professionals can serve as valuable members of interprofessional teams. In many ways, sports can become a glue that holds the community together. Sport can bring people together at sporting games. It can create opportunities for interactions at practices, for both players as well as their friends and families who have come to support them. It fosters bonding before and after the game, at homes, restaurants, and other locations. Sports can become a rallying cry for funding and donation drives for the community to reach into their pockets and closets to support the teams. Individuals wear with pride jerseys, hats, and other memorabilia that help them to feel a part of a sports organization and its players. They gain a sense of pride and connection in doing so (Spaaij, 2009). For instance, Boston is known as a community with strong sports teams—Red Sox for baseball, the Celtics for basketball, the Bruins for ice hockey, and the Patriots for football. The teams bring thousands of visitors to their games, visitors who buy t-shirts, hot dogs, and parking revenue to the tune of millions of dollars. The city’s sports teams are linked with the city’s reputation. Professional sports are not the only sources of building community pride. High school teams bond students and towns together, often with rivalries with nearby communities. Little League teams garner together parents at the local and even national competition levels. Swimming, gymnastics, skiing, and countless other sports are vehicles in which individuals, families, and communities can join together with a common interest and desire to see their team victorious. In short, there are health, physical, emotional, social, economic, organizational, and community benefits to be derived from sports. But there are downsides of sports at the individual, community, and organizational levels that must be considered in any discourse about the role of human rights.

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1.5 Major Issues in Sports as a Human Rights Issue Human rights treaties, like the Convention on the Rights of the Child, hold that protection and safety are a major concern to be addressed by organizations and individuals who are in the positions of being duty-bearers in the implementation of human rights. All individuals have a right to participate in things like sports and to be provided with the access, opportunity, and equipment that will enable them to succeed. This sounds great, but it is not always they way things are. Some individuals are given access and supports, but some are not. This disparity is a major concern in the sports field, from the sports that children play through professional team sports. There is a difference in access to sports depending upon where one lives. Not all people in all countries have had access to sports. Individuals who have had the most access to sports, as well as social and economic rewards for their participation in them, have been people who display stellar ability. However, research has shown that opportunities are not equally distributed. Some individuals have more opportunity than others to play, be recruited, or be successful in the sport. This is apparent with the dominance of male sports (with male players receiving better pay, resources, and media coverage), race, or ability. The disparity is so pervasive that it has been highlighted in films such as Rudy (focusing on players with ability challenges), The Blind Side (racism), A League of Their Own (gender), or Hoosiers, which focuses on how small-town players are at a disadvantage when trying to compete with more resourced and prestigious teams.

1.5.1 Competition Competition may have its upsides, encouraging people to try harder and do their best. But it has been found to turn an enjoyable activity into a high-pressure, anxietyfilled experience. Athletes may be pressured to focus on one sport, which can lead to excluding experiences and limiting other opportunities. According to Science Daily, competitive success that leads to extra hours of training and practice increases the risk of burnout and overuse injuries. One study concluded that overuse injuries account for 50% of all reported sports injuries. The risk of injuries during competition may also rise. The intensity of competitive games can lead players to disregard rules, increasing opportunities for torn ligaments, muscle aches and other injuries. Pressure to win can promote a win-at-all-costs mentality that can be negative for an athlete’s wellbeing (Huggins, 2018; Pipe, 2001). Competition can hurt people’s ability to have other social engagements or to nurture intimate relationships with friends or family (Bean et al., 2014). There is an in-group and out-group phenomenon in sports that can have negative consequences (Becker, 1963). For instance, in any team there are the group of “best” players and those who sit on the bench or who do not get much (or any) playing

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time in a game. The in-group has power, credibility, and access to resources that the marginalized out-group members do not. This can be experienced among children who find that they were the last picked to be on a team or side or by those who tried but who were “not good enough” to make the cut to be on a team. There is in-group pride of one’s school or community team whether it is the Yankees-Red Sox competition or in my Jeffersonville High School rivalry with the New Albany Bulldogs. Belonging to an in-group may give one pride; but as I recall during high school sports games, rival teams could be destructive to cars from the other town, and fights could break out merely for wearing a hat or jersey with the logo of the opposing team. Briefly, in sum, competition can create either positive or negative outcomes for both players and spectators. The negative pressures associated with competition must be considered to ensure protection of athletes, both physically and mentally. Competition is a different mentality than the saying that “we strive not to be better than others but to help others be better”.

1.5.2 Segregation and Inequality Segregation in teams is apparent in almost every sport and around the world (Kiefer, 2013). There are men’s teams and women’s teams, especially notable in soccer, basketball, swimming, horseback racing, or hockey. Women’s sports have not received the same amount of resource or support as men’s sports. Racism has been a pervasive part of the professional sports world, and in countries like the US there were white teams and black teams. This is true at both the player and coaching levels. There are teams or designations for people with different abilities, and athletes with disabilities have not always experienced inclusion or support. Athletes who were LGBTQI + have not always been allowed to play and if they did they could receive significant harassment or discrimination. People of certain religions have not been allowed to play on some teams or sports. Sports team playership are often divided by age, with teams for “juniors” and those with “silver sneakers”. Justification for segregation has promoted the position that people of different types have different abilities and that mixing them would result in some groups always winning or always losing. By creating a sports group for people “of their own kind”, whether by gender, race, or ability, it has been assumed that athletes would have more opportunity, support, and bonding. The arguments that support these age-old traditions are abundant. Integration of diverse peoples into sports has long been controversial. As Wills (2017) points out, integration in sports has always been an uneasy experience. It has been driven by the desire for economic revenue, which has meant that recruiting nontraditional players has broken age-old discriminatory boundaries. Members of underrepresented groups in sports are likely to encounter stereotypes, prejudice, and treatment discrimination. The disparities are evident among athletes, administrators, coaches, officials, and fans. Sport is a place where people who differ from the

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typical majority face biases that limit their access to full participation and sport, and can contribute to both macro and micro aggressions, bias, and discrimination (Cunningham et al., 2021). But their equitable inclusion is far from universal. There is a hefty debate in contemporary society over gender, both in the male/female sports arenas, as well as the placement of transgender athletes. Hindman and Paulsen (2022) conducted a study of the sports labor force and found that women and racial minorities are overrepresented in less powerful, lower-earning, and part-time jobs. Large earnings differentials by sex, race, and ethnicity are found across occupations within the sports workforce. Compared to non-sport industries, occupational segregation is greater, and earnings gaps are generally similar or smaller in the sport industry. Their research expands understanding of sport industry diversity by highlighting the overrepresentation of women and racial minorities in lower status positions in an industry where white men dominate positions of power. In doing so, it highlights the industry’s operation as an inequality regime, (re)producing inequality through structures and practices. Theune (2019) found similar discriminatory findings. The news is regularly filled with issues of segregation, discrimination, and maltreatment on the basis of who an athlete is. These include disparities in what coaches or players make, depending on their race or gender. It concerns resources, equipment, and facilities. Media coverage varies, with men’s sports teams obtaining the widest market-share. Issues of treatment, exposure to injuries such as traumatic brain assaults, allowing players to make public statements about their treatment or views (like Colin Kaepernick). There is a question about whether athletes, especially those in college or professionals who are making million-dollar salaries, should be role models, and what exactly that means (Land, 2010). Controversy over the inclusion of transgender athletes wages across the world and sports organizations. There are those who advocate for people to play sports that are in accordance with their biological designation at birth; there are others who feel athletes should plan in accordance with their gender. As of July 2022, 18 states had banned trans girls and women from publicly funded sports (Yurcaba, 2022), 33 states have introduced more than 117 bills that aim to curb the rights of transgender people across the United States, and 20 states have introduced bills that prohibit or impede the administration of gender-affirming therapy to minors or make it a felony for medical providers to provide transition-related care to transgender minors (Krishnakumar, 2021). As Mertens (2022) observes, maybe the days of dividing sports by demographic characteristic are over, antiquated, and no longer fitting contemporary reality or people’s bodies, needs, and lives. Doing so is a violation of an athlete’s human rights (Voyles, 2019) and can be perceived as a public health issue (Leong & Bartlett, 2022). Authors warn that coaches, especially those with traditional role attitudes, must be trained to display equity in both attitude and action in order to be effective in creating a climate to support equity (Meyer & Roche, 2017). As Reynolds and Hamidian Jahromi (2021) note, it is important for sports organizations to establish policies that are both inclusive and fair. What exactly that means is the point of debate. The lack of consensus among the various athletic governing bodies makes

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it difficult to determine the exact policies to include transgender athletes in sports competitions. Proposed solutions have ranged from total exclusion, total inclusion, an at-birth biological designation, a gender determination, acceptance of a “third legal gender”, separate categories for different categories of transgender athletes, or dividing all athletes into categories based on physiological and social parameters (Kleigman, 2022). Research has explored the benefits and challenges associated with sport participation among youth with physical disabilities (YWPD), however few studies have attempted to understand how sport may facilitate or hinder positive development. Positive youth development (PYD) is a widely used approach to understand youth development through sport. McKinnon et al. (2022) studied PYD among YWPD and found that positive outcomes were largely influenced by a sport climate that was supportive and encouraging, facilitated personal growth and athletic development, and promoted a sense of community and connectedness. These findings demand that organizations and coaches working with children who have disabilities be attentive to the structures, infrastructures, policies, policies, and interactions in order promote PYD among YWPD. This population of athletes view experiences of mastery, belonging, challenge, and autonomy as critically important. It is clear that while there is much rhetoric about the importance of inclusion, diversity, and equality, these are topics that continue to plague the sports community. A human rights commitment may facilitate greater communication and debate about sports organizational behavior as athlete bills of rights are created.

1.5.3 Abuse of Athletes Abuse is widely accepted as part of organized sports culture, something that should not be tolerated from a rights-respecting approach (Pozzulo & Pica, 2022). Streeter (2022) reports that in a survey of 370 elite and club athletes, 31% of female athletes and 21% of male athletes indicated that they had experienced sexual abuse before they were 18. Research shows that athletes experience abuse in sports, with rates ranging from 38 to 72% for psychological abuse, nine and 30% for sexual abuse, and 11 to 21% for physical abuse. Although many may think of abuse in sport as sexual or physical, verbal and emotional abuse is exceedingly common. Emotional abuse is an under-reported form of abuse that occurs across all levels of sport. Emotional abuse can be in the form of shaming, insults, and threats and can be perpetrated by coaches, team members and parents. Studies consistently show that an organization’s policies, practices, and policies directly impact the use and acceptance of athlete maltreatment. The coaches, administrations, and rules that they employ set forth a climate that can nourish safety and rights-respecting attitudes and actions. Conversely, organizational climate and leader actions can make abuse in all its forms seem more acceptable. The climates that are set and the behaviors of role models directly influence how athletes tr each other. Roberts et al. (2020) reviewed 43 qualitative studies investigating psychological,

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physical, and sexual abuse of athletes, and developed a framework of organisational factors (i.e., structural, social, and stress factors) related to non-accidental violence. Organisational tolerance for abuse and conformity to dominant values within sports were related to all three types of non-accidental violence. Power imbalance appeared as a relevant factor in both psychological and sexual abuse, while isolation was also relevant in sexual abuse. Believing that non-accidental violence had instrumental effects was related to both psychological and physical abuse, whereas a winner-takeall reward system was related to physical abuse. Based on this systematic review, the authors proposed an integrated perspective of the organisational factors driving nonaccidental violence in sport and conclude by proposing a whole-of-system approach to the prevention and management of non-accidental violence. Thus, as Roberts and Sojo (2020) note it’s not that abuse is caused by a few bad apples in the sports world. Abuse is nurtured and thrived when the organizations are bad barrels that toxify others.

Physical Abuse Sports can improve physical health and wellbeing. But they can also result in injuries, many of which are preventable. According to the National Institutes of Health (2023), the term “sports injury” refers to the kinds of injuries that most commonly occur during sports or exercise. The most common types of sports injuries affect the musculoskeletal system, including muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and other tissues that provides the body with stability and enables movement. Sports injuries are divided into two broad categories, acute and chronic injuries. Acute injuries happen suddenly, such as when a person falls, receives a blow, or twists a joint (like a broken bone, sprains or dislocations), while chronic injuries (like shin splints or stress fractures) result from overuse of one area of the body and develop gradually over time. Some physical injuries are caused by not using the correct technique or by not being trained properly. Other injuries are associated with not wearing or using the proper equipment while others are associated with prior injuries or overuse, such as playing the same sport year-round. Helmets may protect player heads, but they may also give feigned protection to justify athletes playing more aggressively (Wallace, 2011). Head, leg, shoulder, elbow, knee, back. and ankle injuries are common. Certain types of sports put athletes at greater risk. US football and boxing are associated with traumatic brain injuries. So is cycling, which why helmets are now recommended or required (Sahler & Greenwald, 2012). Use of steroids, performanceenhancing drugs, or other forms of doping can put athletes at physical risk, and can contribute to their elimination in certain sports (Clancy et al., 2022). Athletes may have undiagnosed health conditions that could be exacerbated under certain sports conditions, such as the heart attack that the Buffalo Bills football player Damar Hamlin suffered. Unless he had received high quality immediate healthcare, it is estimated that he likely would have died. Coach and trainer actions matter and can protect athletes, or put them at risk. For instance Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight is simultaneously

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regarded as one of the best basketball coaches of all time who was beloved by many, but one who will go down in history as physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive of athletes. What the story of Coach Knight conveys is the complexity and tension associated with winning versus role-modeling behavior that coaches want others to emulate (Audilet, 2022; Dinich, 2018; Morrison, 2022). There are always physical risks associated with sports. From a human rights perspective, coaches and sports organizations have an obligation to prevent them from occurring in the first place and to activate safety measures, equipment, treatment, and recovery at every point.

Mental Health Exploitation of Athletes According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022) and organizations like the Kempe Foundation (2022), emotional and verbal abuse in sports are commonplace. Emotional abuse refers to behaviors that harm a child’s self-worth or emotional well-being. Verbal abuse damages a person’s psychological wellbeing, and examples include name calling, shaming, rejection, mean-spirited “teasing” or “joking”, withholding love, and threats. Children who have suffered emotional or verbal abuse may find it difficult to form healthy relationships, become overly reliant and dependent on one person, or develop problems with emotions and memory. Within the world of sports, emotional and verbal abuse are under-acknowledged but common form of abuse that occurs at all levels, from youth and grassroots amateur sports organizations to professional leagues. This includes shaming and mocking for poor performance, using inappropriate nicknames, denying attention, making threats of repercussions, and excluding or singling out individuals. Spectators may disparage players for performances that don’t meet their expectations, and in almost all cases the spectators would not have been able to perform better. Sports can be a way to increase the acceptance and inclusion of marginalized youth populations (Parker et al., 2019). Community sports programs can facilitate social inclusion and be a source of positive psychological capital (Morgan & Parker, 2017; Morgan et al., 2019). Coaches and older persons can serve to be positive role models as they demonstrate positive human rights behaviors both on and off the court or field. Trusted coaches and older players can become positive mentors to show how to “do” social justice in attitude and action (Albright et al., 2017; Brockbank & McGill, 2006; Meltzer et al., 2018; Morgan & Parker, 2017). Disaffected young people who are marginalized by peers and their community pose particular challenges that have the possibility of being overcome thanks to a well-crafted sports program (Piper & Piper, 1999). Youth and peer-initiated mentoring has been found to be a positive mechanism for working with marginalized and more vulnerable adolescents (Schwartz et al., 2013). Sports scholars remind us that it is inappropriate to exploit marginalized populations by recruiting those with potential to play so that sports organizations can either gain economic benefits or are regarded in a more positive light because they have marginalized players on their team. These are forms of exploitation that are to the

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benefit of the sports organization but may not be in the best interests of the individual players (Morgan & Battle, 2019). The fact that most youth start playing sports when they are young but quit as they get older is an obvious sign that young athletes are not getting what they need to justify their continuing in sport. As one of those children who was never taught how to play sports, I have never been very good at most of them even when I try. While I love to play, I am very cautious about who to play with and what to play. The emotional penalties for inadequacy or perceived failure simply are too hard for me to take a chance, even decades later.

Sexual Abuse Child USA (2021) created a report outlining standards for how children are to be treated in sports organizations and by adult authorities such as coaches, but like many of the initial child safety reports, they focused on sexual abuse. They found that while the public has become more aware of sex abuse of gymnasts, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse occurs in all types of sports. About half of all athletes reporting having experienced everything from mild harassment to severe abuse. They estimate about eight percent of athletes have been impacted by sex abuse, and in almost all cases they knew their perpetrator, who had likely spent considerable time grooming them for it. But reported statistics are almost always an underestimate of actual abuse. Through interviews with nearly 4,000 athletes in more than 50 sports, the nonprofit U.S. Center for SafeSport found 93% of respondents who experienced sexual harassment or unwanted contact during their time in sports did not report it (Boyce, 2021). This is true for both male and female athletes. Athletes may be afraid to divulge their abuse for fear it may eliminate them from opportunities to compete. It is therefore incumbent upon others to know the signs of sexual abuse in athletes, which may include missing sports practices, loss of interest in the sport, withdrawal from activities, teammates, or friends that they once used to love, dropping school grades, changes in eating habits, mood changes, feeling anxious, depressed, or being hypervigilant (KMD Law, 2022).

1.6 Children’s Sports Injuries and Human Rights The Convention on the Rights of the child (CRC) affirms that children have a right to be safe and that organizations that serve children have an obligation to make decisions about their policies and practices to ensure that outcome. While sports can have positive physical, emotional, and social benefits for children who play or enjoy them, there are also potential dangers that must be considered. While accidents may happen, not to take active measures to provide children access to sports for their participation and to protect players is a violation of their rights for provision, participation, and protection.

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According to Stanford Medicine’s analysis of data from the National SAFE KIDS campaign, Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (2022), there are more than 3.5 million sports injuries for children age 14 and younger that occur each year. Almost one-third of all injuries incurred in childhood are sports-related injuries. By far, the most common injuries are sprains and strains but some are more serious, including traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, or even death. The leading cause of death from a sports injury is a brain injury; 21% of all traumatic brain injuries in children result from sports and recreational activities, particularly football and hockey. Baseball has the highest fatality rate among sports for children ages 5 to 14, with three to four children dying from baseball injuries each year. Common sports injuries tend to come from contact sports like football and hockey but also from bicycling, skateboarding, skating or injuries occurring as a result of falls, being struck by an object, collisions, and overexertion during organized, unorganized or informal sports activities. Pediatricians warn that all types of sports have a potential for injury, whether from the trauma of contact with other players or from overuse or misuse of a body part. However, some sports are more dangerous for children than others. Forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu claims the "big six" to avoid are: American football, ice hockey, mixed martial arts, boxing, wrestling, and rugby. Others include basketball, baseball, cycling, ice hockey, skating, skateboarding, cheerleading, volleyball, and soccer. Injuries associated with trampolines, snow sports, and skating (Brodsky, 2017; Voight, 2015). Sports and activities in which children are exposed to the potential of multiple injuries through high impact, high contact sports from which they may sustain repeated blows to the head “fits the definition of child abuse”. It is also a violation of children’s human rights, as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child articles. This is especially the case when parents or coaches choose to intentionally expose children to activities that increase intentional exposure to the risk of traumatic brain injuries (Brodsky, 2017). While no sport is 100% safe for all children all of the time, there are precautionary measures that schools and sports institutions can take to minimize risk of both head and other types of injury. Data indicates that children’s sports injuries have declined when organizations and adults put into place policies and practices to prevent injuries (VinZant, 2022; Voight, 2014).

1.7 Sports as Big Business Sport has always been big business. As Seidman (2023) observes with the Super Bowl games, the big winners are not the teams or players, but the billionaires who own them. But big business may be associated with human rights violations of workers, consumers, and the environment in order to earn profits (Bacchi, 2019; Business & Human Rights Resource Center, 2015). Historical studies of sports in Ancient Greece and Rome find sport was associated with significant levels of commercial activity. This included regular organised events, large-capacity sports

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stadiums, professional athletes with trainers and free agency, sports tourism, and gambling on sport. Those providing sport and sport-associated products ranged from petty businessmen, who sold food, drink and accommodation to sports tourists, to the state provision of mass-spectacle sporting events. Although much of the sport provision was not profit-oriented, those who funded games, chariot-racing and gladiatorial combat in the hope of securing prestige and political influence can still be considered sports entrepreneurs as they acted a change agents on the supply side of sport (Vamplew, 2022). The sports industry continues to boom around the world. Sport enabling to form large consumer groups and to come together is used as a marketing tool with the impact of a rapidly growing consumer society. Sports industry allow producers to produce sports goods and consumers to consume them (Boyacıo˘glu & O˘guz, 2016). The sports industry is estimated to be worth over $500 billion (Torrens University, 2020). The sports industry is divided into two main sectors, participatory and spectator. Participatory sports include gyms, fitness and recreation centers, community sports, marinas, golf clubs, personal trainers, and other similar types of activities. The participatory sector has the biggest share of the sports market at approximately 56%, with fitness and recreation centers owning about 40% of the whole participatory sports sector. Spectator sports include different types of sports teams, clubs, and their associated revenues from events, merchandising, sponsorship, and media. Spectator sport sector is the fastest growing of the two sectors and generates the greatest economic revenue, with over $250 billion annually. To say that sports is big business is a gross understatement. Soccer/football generates about 43% of the revenue, followed by American football (13%), baseball (12%), Formula 1 (7%), basketball (6%), hockey (4%), tennis (4%), and golf (3%). Sports brands make significant money from merchandise. According to Forbes Magazine (Ozanian, 2019), Nike led the pack with about $37 billion, followed by ESPN ($13 billion), Adidas ($11.2 billion), followed by brands like Gatorade, Sky Sports, Puma, Under Armour, or teams like the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, or Los Angeles Lakers. Forbes Magazine found that the Dallas Cowboys football team worth over five billion dollars, with the New York Yankees (baseball), Real Madrid (soccer), Barcelona (soccer), New York Knicks (basketball), Manchester United (soccer), New England Patriots (football), Los Angeles Lakers (basketball), Golden State Warriors (basketball), and New York Giants (football) right behind. There has been a steady rise in the number and bureaucratization of sports organizations. The development of major league teams like the National Football Association (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), Premier League (EPL), National Hockey League (NHL), Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera Division (La Liga), or Fußball-Bundesliga (Bundesliga) have extensive administrations and revenues. There are minor league professional teams that are feeders into the major league, teams which give local communities identify. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the premiere feeder organization into professional sports teams. Signing day is a national event when college players find out if they are drafted into professional teams. Local communities have sports teams and community leagues. High school sports are taken seriously and extensive

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pressure is put on young athletes to perform successfully so they can obtain college athletic scholarships or recruitment into professional sports teams. Little League baseball for young children has become a televised national competition. The professionalization of sports has resulted in billions of dollars in revenue for sports organizations. Salaries for sports administrators and players may easily be in the millions of dollars each year. The cost for spectators to attend sporting events has gone up significantly. Combining the cost for tickets, concessions, food, drinks, clothing attire, parking, and other team-related paraphernalia can easily push the cost into hundreds of dollars per individual. As sports globally has become a major industry, the potential for violating human rights for the sake of profit and notoriety cannot be ignored.

1.7.1 Rise of the Youth Sports Industry One of the CRC’s basic premises is the importance of youth participation. Access to sports is associated with physical health, social health, learning to play as a team, college scholarships, and future success. Today it is common to find parents introducing their children when they are toddlers to sports, since early sports competence is associated with later opportunities and successes (Datz, 2015). One of the CRC’s basic premises is the importance of youth participation. Access to sports is associated with physical health, social health, learning to play as a team, college scholarships, and future success. Today it is common to find parents introducing their children when they are toddlers to sports, since early sports competence is associated with later opportunities and successes. Parents may think that if their children learn sports skills early that they may be recruited into college with scholarships or provided lucrative contracts to play on professional sports teams. Parents may think that if their children learn sports skills early that they may be recruited into college with scholarships or provided lucrative contracts to play on professional sports teams. Parents buy into the professionalization of sports by turning their children into competitive athletes. Many toddlers are put into sports activities and young children into teams not just to help them be healthy and learn the benefits of team playing, but also to set them up for potential athletic success. However, the probability of this. A half a million student-athletes are in the US, of which 2% will become professional athletes. The rest will become professionals in something else. That implies that only the elite of the elite will manage to make a living by competing in their favorite sport (Iacovides, 2022). According to a poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 26% of U.S. parents whose children in high school play sports hope their child will become a professional athlete one day. Among families with household incomes of less than $50,000 annually, the number is 39%. But according to the NCAA, the odds of that happening are slim to none. About 1 in 168 high school baseball players will get drafted by a Major League Baseball team, and 1 in 2,451 men’s high school basketball players will get drafted by a National

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Basketball Association team (Kelto, 2015). Played by more than thirty million boys and girls across the country, youth sports have been turned from a casual activity for children into a fanatical force–an intense, expensive, elitist rite of passage driven by the needs of adults. ESPN reporter Tom Farrey, author of Game On (2009), the effort to sort the strong from the weak athletes starts at ever-younger age. He argues that adults have conscripted children into a sports arms race in which individual performance trumps participation and personal growth in a win-at-all-costs culture. This, he states, pushes too many children to the sidelines and ultimately undermines the quality of U.S. national teams (Farrey, 2009). Parent behavior at youth sporting events has become very problematic for young athletes, as even adults may fail to role-model rights-respecting behavior. Parents have been known to scream at young players, verbally and emotionally abuse them, physically assault them, physically assault coaches or spectators there who are supporting the opposing team. Some have been banned from attending games, and some organizations have gotten to the point they require parents to sign forms that require them to be rights-respecting when they occur (Kehr, 2020; Omli & WieseBjornstal, 2011; Reynolds, 2021). Clearly, adult misbehavior and aggression and youth sporting events can be perceived to be violations of player human rights. The transformation of sports into a huge business industry, the treatment of athletics to succeed, and the ever-pervasive push of children to become competitive athletes may be in violation of a variety of human rights. While sports can be good for individuals and communities, the push for success and financial liquidity may easily push safety, equality, and human rights to the sideline.

1.8 Development of Athlete Bills of Rights Because human rights violations have become pervasive in almost all types of sports and within all types of sports organizations, many organizations are stepping up to create athlete bills of rights. Most of them include some component of player safety, but this is not always their primary emphasis. It is curious that the different bills are not the same despite the standards in human rights treaties being clearly stated. The issue is on how the treaty positions are being conceptualized, articulated, and implemented. Some may be designed to protect the organizations more than individual players. Below is a review of some of the main athlete bills of rights. In 1979, Martens and Seefelt proposed a Bill of Rights for Young Athletes for the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Their rights were simple and focused on athlete’s ● ● ● ●

Right to participate in sports Right to participate at a level commensurate with each child’s maturity and ability Right to have qualified adult leadership Right of children to share in the leadership and decision-making of their sport participation

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Right to participate in safe and healthy environments Right to proper preparation for participation in sports Right to an equal opportunity for success Right to be treated with dignity Right to have fun in sports

It took about forty years before the issue of athletes being entitled to a bill of rights gained national traction. Incidents of abuse and safety violations in sports became so pervasive that it opened a cascade of allegations that were once hushhushed. Football legend Coach Joe Paterno knew about Jerry Sandusky’s grooming and rape of boys and said nothing. Michigan State University turned a blind eye to gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar’s three-decade reign of sexual abuse (Evans, 2021). English football cases of sexual abuse resulted in at least 750 detailed allegations against 276 figures in Britain’s sexual abuse inquiry, Operation Hydrant. Women in soccer have also filed suits because of maltreatment and abuse. USA Swimming banned over 100 coaches for life, after coach Andy King was sentenced to 40 years in prison for abusing swimmers for over thirty years. Daniel Carcillo, former NHL player and two-time Stanley Cup winner, was the lead plaintiff in a class action abuse lawsuit filed against the Canadian Hockey League in 2020 related to how players were treated. When Olympics gymnastic star Simone Biles opened up about the sexual abuse and emotional assaults she endured, the need for athletes to have their rights protected gained international attention (Evans, 2021; Puzzulo & Pica, 2022; Streeter, 2022, Tracy, 2016; Vissing, 2012). Highlighting the political nature of sports and human rights, Senator Cory Booker (2020), along with other Congressional leaders, proposed legislation that ostensibly could change the landscape of college sports and protect and expand the rights of college athletes and guarantee fair and equitable compensation, enforceable health and safety standards, and improved educational opportunities for all college athletes. The legislation was endorsed by the Steelworkers Union, National College Players Association, Color of Change, Sports Fans Coalition, and University of Baltimore’s Director for the Center of Sports and Law, Dionne Koller. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the premiere college and university sports organization. It is a nonprofit organization designed to regulate student athletics in over 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. They have divided sports into different divisions by gender, with either men’s or women’s programs. The NCAA oversees sports that include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, skiing, soccer, softball, swimming/diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling. While the NCAA has made strides in facilitating access and safety of sports to young athletes, it is not without controversy or criticism. For instance, the United Steelworkers international president asserted that “NCAA sports is a predatory industry that exploits college athletes physically, economically, and academically…The United Steelworkers (USW) stands in solidarity with these athletes in their quest for fairness and we support the College Athletes’ Bill of Rights” (Booker, 2022). Booker’s website about the bill states that it is not against NCAA

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rules for a college to conduct a negligent workout that kills an athlete, for a coach or doctor to sexually assault their athletes, or to exploit players on the basis of their race and gender. While NCAA has an extensive history of funding its staff, there are alleged discrepancies on positions and salaries depending on one’s demographic characteristics. Student athletes may be publicized to encourage ticket sales but rules have forbidden them to make a penny off of their own name, image, and likeness. Organizations like Color Of Change urged senators to advance the College Athletes Bill of Rights to protect student-athletes who deserve their fair share of the rewards and profits brought in on the backs of their talent and work. The College Athletes Bill of Rights (Booker, 2022) is supposed to provide: ● Fair and equitable compensation. The College Athletes’ Bill of Rights will allow college athletes to market their name, image, and likeness (NIL), either individually or as a group, with minimal restrictions. It will also require revenue-generating sports to share 50% of their profit with the athletes from that sport after accounting for the cost of scholarships—for example, Division 1 women’s basketball players will receive 50% of the total revenue generated by their play after deducting the cost of scholarships awarded to all Division 1 women’s basketball players. ● Enforceable evidence-based health, safety, and wellness standards. Within 120 days of enactment, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) along with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will consult with the Sports Science Institution and the NCAA to develop industry-leading health, safety, and wellness standards addressing everything from how to handle concussion and traumatic brain injuries to sexual assault and interpersonal violence to athletics health care administration. ● Improved educational outcomes and opportunities. While the NCAA often touts its near-90% graduation rate for college athletes, independent studies assert that number is far lower—roughly 70% of college athletes graduate in six years while only 55% of Black male college athletes graduate in six years. Even more, many college athletes are pressured toward less challenging classes and majors to allow more time and focus on sport. Under the College Athletes’ Bill of Rights, all college athletes would receive a scholarship for as many years as it takes for them to receive an undergraduate degree, while the coaches and athletic department personnel would be banned from influencing or retaliating against a college athlete for their choice of an academic course or major. ● Establish a Medical Trust Fund. The College Athletes’ Bill of Rights will establish a Medical Trust Fund that athletes can use to cover the costs of any out-of-pocket medical expenses for the duration of their time as a college athlete for five years after their eligibility expires if used to treat a sport-related injury. Athletes can also draw from the Medical Trust Fund to treat certain long-term injuries, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). ● Accountability across college sports. Each school will be required to provide annual public reporting that describes total revenues and expenditures, including compensation for athletic department personnel and booster donations as well as reporting on the number of hours athletes commit to athletic activities—including

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all mandatory workouts, “voluntary” workouts, film study, and game travel—and academic outcomes disaggregated by program, race, and gender. ● Freedom for college athletes to attend the institution of their choice. Our plan will ban restrictions and penalties that prevent college athletes from attending the institution of their choice, including penalties associated with transferring schools and penalties hidden behind National Letters of Intent. ● Establish the Commission on College Athletics. The Commission on College Athletics—composed of nine members including no fewer than 5 former college athletes and individuals with expertise ranging from publicity law to Title IX—to ensure athletes are aware of their new rights and that those rights are upheld. Heitner (2022) notes that athlete bills of rights may impact the livelihood of sports agents. If Booker’s bill passes in Congress, sports agents who wish to represent college athletes must be licensed on a state-by-state basis dependent on where the recruited athletes are enrolled. If the Commission is established, then it will have the right to assess an annual certification fee for each college athlete agent. He observes that the Commission will not have the power to establish a standard requiring college athlete agents to attain a bachelor’s degree, an associate’s degree, or a graduate degree from an institution of higher education. No state may establish a law or regulation that seeks to preclude college athletes from securing representation from sports agents. It also says that states can no longer regulate and certify college athlete agents, but that does not mean that states will be taken completely out of the business of making money off of agents. The bill says that it does not intend to play a role with sports agents who are not college athlete agents. Thus, it is plausible that states will maintain their separate athlete agent laws, if the College Athletes Bill of Rights becomes law, with regard to agents who seek to recruit college athletes for the purpose of representing them during their professional careers. The Aspen Institute (2022) created Project Play with a working group of human rights and sports policy experts to create a Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports. Members of this committee represented many members of the sports community, including Athletes for Hope, Center for Sport and the Law, University of Baltimore School of Law, the Centre for Sports and Human Rights, the Power of Sports Lab, and U.S. Center for Safe Sports. Their Children’s Bill of Rights identifies eight rights: 1. To play sports. Organizations should make every effort to accommodate children’s interests to participate, and to help them play with peers from diverse backgrounds. 2. To safe and healthy environments. Children have the right to play in settings free from all forms of abuse (physical, emotional, sexual), hazing, violence, and neglect. 3. To qualified program leaders. Children have the right to play under the care of coaches and other adults who pass background checks and are trained in key competencies. 4. To developmentally appropriate play. Children have a right to play at a level commensurate with their physical, mental and emotional maturity, and their

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emerging athletic ability. They should be treated as young people first, athletes second. To share in the planning and delivery of their activities. Children have the right to share their viewpoints with coaches and for their insights to be incorporated into activities. To an equal opportunity for personal growth. Programs should invest equally in all child athletes, free of discrimination based on any personal or family characteristic. To be treated with dignity. Children have the right to participate in environments that promote the values of sportsmanship, of respect for opponents, officials, and the game. To enjoy themselves. Children have the right to participate in activities they consider fun, and which foster the development of friendships and social bonds.

Aspen Institute’s Future of Sports program (2021) encourages community and school sports programs to review their policies and practices with children’s rights as a filter and to work with athletes and parents to understand the potential benefits of a rights-based approach. They encourage that anyone working with athletes to use a rights-respecting approach. This includes community and school sports programs, national spor organizations, grantmakers and sponsors, parents and caregivers, adult athletes, youth, and policy makers. Swimming organizations have also moved towards the creation of athlete bills of rights (Jacobs, 2021). An Athlete Bill of Rights was officially adopted into the USA Artistic Swimming rulebook that they hope will be s catalyst for change in the quest to make the sport of artistic swimming more inclusive and safe sport for all. Their Athlete Bill of Rights (https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Artistic-Swimming/Features/ 2021/April/15/Introducing-the-Athlete-Bill-of-Rights) has seven rights, which are: 1. Participate in artistic swimming. Artistic swimming is an inclusive sport. An athlete’s right to participate is realized regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation or pregnancy), age, family status, socioeconomic status, geographical location, nationality, body shape, beliefs, mental or physical ability or any other defining characteristics. 2. Be treated with equity and respect. Athletes are not to be discriminated against due to any of the characteristics listed above and are to be respected by all members of our community. 3. Train and compete safely and appropriately. Athletes have the right to train and compete in facilities that are clean and property maintained and in environments that are free from bullying, hazing, harassment, emotional, physical, or sexual misconduct and be instructed by qualified individuals with professional credentials. Athletes have the right to make personal health decisions, request equitable training opportunities, and the right to feel comfortable in their swim attire. 4. Have their personal wellness prioritized. Athletes have the right to pursue and be supported in their pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.

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5. Express community, culture, and religion. Athletes have the right to have their cultural and religious practices respected and to receive accommodations for them. 6. Utilize means of communication. Athletes have the right to utilize lines of communication available to them to share any issues, thoughts, or concerns with the confidence that doing so will not jeopardize their ability to participate successfully. 7. Integrity and Privacy. Athletes have a reasonable right to privacy and confidentiality regarding their personal lives, health, and wellbeing. Sport in Society created an athlete bill of rights (Sport & Dev, 2022; Wolff, 2022). They regard it as an essential building block for all sports organizations and for athletes, themselves, to define their human rights. The Athlete Bill of Rights and checklist is intended to incorporate the work done by other human rights and humanitarian groups to help reduce poor treatment of athletes. Peter Kaufman, a Sport in Society research advisor reported that the pursuit of sports does not make one immune to the scourge of inequality, injustice, environmental degradation, violence, and oppression. The Sport in Society (2009) hopes that their Athlete Bill of Rights will send a powerful message that athletes, like all citizens of the world, deserve basic rights, freedoms, and opportunities and to empower them to advocate for their rights. Their rights checklist include the following: ● Every athlete has the right to play whatever and whichever sport he/she chooses regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, political affiliation or religion ● Every athlete has the right to play in a safe environment free of structural defaults, defects, and environmental hazards including safe air quality and clean playing surface ● Every athlete has the right to play free from any physical, emotional, or verbal abuse or violence from the opposition, teammates, coaching staff, spectators, grounds staff, or officials ● Every athlete has the right to create a contract and a working relationship with whomever they chose ● Every athlete is afforded the right to appeal any complaints made against him/her through an independent hearing as well as be provided with an effective procedure for complaints ● Every athlete has the right to view the terms of his/her contract at any time and to have it examined by a lawyer ● Every athlete has an equal right to any financial resources available and equal access to training grounds and equipment available ● Every athlete is entitled to a healthy lifestyle that includes proper nutrition, injury prevention and care, and education about the harmful effects of drugs The Secondary School Student Athlete Bill of Rights, developed by the National Athletic Trainers Association (2022) More than seven million high school students participate in athletics each year. These student athletes suffer 2 million injuries and

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undergo 200,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations annually. 400,000 brain injuries (concussions) occurred in high school athletics during the 2008–2009 school year. During the 2011–2012 academic year, 22% of injuries suffered by secondary school student athletes were concussions, up from only nine percent of total injuries just six years earlier. Their website contains Congressional resolutions in 2022, H. Res 112/ S. Res 83 they feel apply to athlete rights: ● H. RES. 112 / S. RES. 83 contain 10 best practices that any school in the country can implement to make their student athletes safer. ● H. RES. 112 / S. RES. 83 encourage secondary schools to take all available and reasonable efforts to ensure student athlete safety. ● H. RES. 112 / S. RES. 83 are supported by more than 180 organizations including the members of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, Youth Sports Safety Alliance, The American Football Coaches Association, the American Heart Association, and the National Association of State Boards of Education. ● There is no cost associated with H.RES. 112 or S. RES. 83. ● H. RES. 112 / S. RES. 83 enjoy bipartisan support and offer members of Congress the ability to raise awareness of the youth athlete safety issue to their constituents. Just as some organizations are developing athlete bills of rights, some states are as well. For instance, the California Department of Education (2021) constructed an athlete bill of rights that enumerates the rights available to pupils. They focus on gender equity and include: 1. You have the right to fair and equitable treatment and you shall not be discriminated against based on your sex. 2. You have the right to be provided with an equitable opportunity to participate in all academic extracurricular activities, including athletics. 3. You have the right to inquire of the athletic director of your school as to the athletic opportunities offered by the school. 4. You have the right to apply for athletic scholarships. 5. You have the right to receive equitable treatment and benefits in the provision of all of the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Equipment and supplies. Scheduling of games and practices. Transportation and daily allowances. Access to tutoring. Coaching. Locker rooms. Practice and competitive facilities. Medical and training facilities and services. Publicity.

6. You have the right to have access to a gender equity coordinator to answer questions regarding gender equity laws.

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7. You have the right to contact the State Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation to access information on gender equity laws. 8. You have the right to file a confidential discrimination complaint with the United States Office of Civil Rights or the State Department of Education if you believe you have been discriminated against or if you believe you have received unequal treatment on the basis of your sex. 9. You have the right to pursue civil remedies if you have been discriminated against. 10. You have the right to be protected against retaliation if you file a discrimination complaint The Ohio Valley Region (2022) created an Athlete’s Bill of Rights to assist players and their parents/ guardians during athlete tryouts to be in athletic clubs. Its bill of rights states rights such as: “It is the responsibility of the club to provide the player’s family with all information currently available about their program. It is the responsibility of each player and his/her family to become educated about the programs they are considering. It is the responsibility of both parties—club and player—to honor every commitment.” Their bill of rights focuses primarily on tryouts and does not address issues of equity or safety that other athlete bill of rights have. Individual schools may set their own athletic policies and create their own athlete bill of rights. For instance, at Christian Brothers University (CBU) in Arkansas (2022), their Student Athlete-Parent Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. Note that their bill of rights is not just for the athletes but their parents as well. Their document focuses heavily on payment for injuries, which may be why the parents are also included on their bill of rights. Their bill of rights contains things such as: “You have the right to see any physician you wish provided that he/she will communicate with the Athletic Trainer about your condition and that you are covered under your primary insurance policy to do so. Remember some specialists aren’t covered under primary and could be denied by CBU’s secondary insurance. You are responsible to report any injuries to the athletic trainer and seek treatment in a timely manner for those injuries. It is your responsibility to do this prior to your seeing a physician or specialist, or YOU”. Student athletes or their parents are to assume responsibility for bills. They define injury as “any event that limits, affects, or alters the athlete’s ability to participate in games or practices and may be unrelated or related to sport participation. CBU’s secondary insurance coverage applies only to documented sports “accident” claims. You have a right to a second opinion, which may or may not be covered under secondary insurance”. Their site requests athletes provide insurance cards and authorizations, billing information, and any athlete that fails to do so “may be removed from participation in athletics with or without notice”. These are just a few of what is posted to be in support of athlete bills of rights. As one can readily see, not all of the points outlined in the various bills of rights adhere to what is in the major human rights treaties, as discussed earlier in this chapter. It would seem that while there is positive movement for organizations to even think

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about sports within a human rights lens, organizations are not on the same page. There is significant development that needs to occur for all sports organizations to develop comprehensive, inclusive rights in their bills of rights.

1.9 Conclusion This chapter has introduced the issue of sports as a human rights issue. It has briefly reviewed the benefits of sports and the human rights and safety challenges within the operations of sports organizations and their impact on individual players. The data conveys that sports is an inequitable field today that has the potential to be a social change agent. There is more discussion about rights violations and what the fields of sports can do to be more rights-respecting, but the discussions are at an infantile level for most organizations. There is an academic discipline of sport that showcases its interdisciplinary nature. Linking sport to the field of human rights will require theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical evolution in this new discipline. The chapters contained in this book each pick a particular dimension of human rights in sports issues. There are, of course, many more topics that could be examined. What the forthcoming chapters provide is a template for how to examine sports from a human rights perspective. It is a vitally important contribution to various academic disciplines as they evolve to move beyond the status quo and create a safer, more equitable, just playing field for all.

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McKinnon, A., Bassett-Gunter, R. L., Fraser-Thomas, J., & Arbour-Nicitopoulos, K. P. (2022). Understanding sport as a vehicle to promote positive development among youth with physical disabilities. Journal of Sport for Development. https://jsfd.org/ Meltzer, A., Muir, K., & Craig, L. (2018). The role of trusted adults in young people’s social and economic lives. Youth & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X16637610 Mertens, M. (2022). Separating sports by sex doesn’t make sense. The Atlantic. https://www.theatl antic.com/culture/archive/2022/09/sports-gender-sex-segregation-coed/671460/ Meyer, K. L., & Roche, K. M. (2017). Sports-for-development gender equality impacts from basketball programme: Shifts in attitudes and stereotyping in Senegalese youth and coaches. Journal of Sport for Development, 5(9), 49–57. Miller, N. (2014). 6 reasons why the World Cup should be taken away from Qatar. Bleacher Report. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1964708-six-reasons-why-the-world-cupshould-be-taken-away-from-qatar Mohan, V. (2022). What is LIV Golf and why is it controversial? Sportskeeda. https://www.sports keeda.com/golf/what-liv-golf-controversial Moore, W. E. (1960). A reconsideration of theories of social change. American Sociological Review, 25(6), 810–818. https://doi.org/10.2307/2089978 Morgan, H., & Battle, I. (2019). “It’s borderline hypocrisy”: Recruitment practices in youth sportbased interventions. Journal of Sport and Development, 7(13), 1–15. https://jsfd.org/ Morgan, H. J., & Parker, A. (2017). Generating recognition, acceptance and social inclusion in marginalised youth populations: The potential of sports-based interventions. Journal of Youth Studies, 20(8), 1028–1043. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2017.1305100 Morgan, H., Bush, A., & McGee, D. (2021). The contribution of sport to the sustainable development goals: Insights from commonwealth games associations. Journal of Sport for Development. https://jsfd.org/ Morgan, H., Parker, A., & Roberts, W. (2019). Community sport programmes and social inclusion: What role for positive psychological capital? Sport in Society, 22(6), 1100–1114. https://doi. org/10.1080/17430437.2019.1565397 Morrison, D. (2022). Bobby Knight a legendary and controversial coach. On3.33 https://www.on3. com/news/bobby-knight-quotes-from-a-legendary-and-controversial-coach/ National Athletic Trainers Association. (2022). The secondary school student’s athlete bill of rights. https://www.nata.org/advocacy/federal/bills-we-support/secondary-school-studentathletes%E2%80%99-bill-rights National Institutes of Health. (2023). Sports injuries. https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/spo rts-injuries Ohio Valley Region. (2022). Ohio Valley Region athlete bill of rights. www.ovr.org/ Omli, J., & Wiese-Bjornstal, D. M. (2011, December). Kids speak: Preferred parental behavior at youth sport events. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 82(4), 702–711. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/02701367.2011.10599807. PMID: 22276412. Ozanian, M. (2019). The world’s most valuable sports brands. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/ sites/mikeozanian/2019/10/16/the-forbes-fab-40-puma-debuts-on-2019-list-of-the-worldsmost-valuable-sports-brands/?sh=6c32cbabd356 Parker, A., Morgan, H., Farooq, S., Moreland, B., & Pitchford, A. (2019). Sporting intervention and social change: Football, marginalised youth and citizenship development. Sport, Education and Society, 24(3), 298–310. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2017.1353493 Pipe, A. (2001). The adverse effects of elite competition on health and well-being. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 26(S1), S192–S201. https://doi.org/10.1139/h2001-054. PMID: 11897895. Piper, H., & Piper, J. (1999). “Disaffected” young people: Problems for mentoring. Mentoring & Tutoring, Partnership in Learning, 7(2), 121–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361126990070203 Pohl, C., & Wuelser, G. (2019). Methods for coproduction of knowledge among diverse disciplines and stakeholders. In K. Hall, A. Vogel, & R. Croyle (Eds.), Strategies for team science success. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20992-6_8

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Tracy, M. (2016). Joe Paterno knew of Sandusky sex abuse. New York Times. https://www.nytimes. com/2016/07/13/sports/ncaafootball/joe-paterno-jerry-sandusky-sex-abuse-penn-state-1976court-documents.html United Nations. (2022). Sustainable development goals. https://sdgs.un.org/ US Soccer. (2022). FIFA announces 16 cities to host 2026 World Cup. https://www.ussoccer.com/ stories/2022/06/fifa-announces-16-cities-to-host-2026-fifa-world-cup-across-the-usa-mexicoand-canada Vamplew, W. (2022). Bread and circuses, olive oil and money: Commercialised sport in Ancient Greece and Rome. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 39(6), 589–608. https:// doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2022.2099383 Veroutsos, E. (2022). The most popular sports in the world. World Atlas. https://www.worldatlas. com/articles/what-are-the-most-popular-sports-in-the-world.html VinZant, N. (2022). Most dangerous sports for students. https://quotewizard.com/news/dangeroussports-for-high-school-and-college-students. Vissing, Y. (2012, November 2). Protecting children also protects colleges. Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/article/Protecting-Children-Also/135526/ Voight, K. (2014). The 11 most dangerous sports your child can play. Nerd Wallet. https://www. nerdwallet.com/blog/health/medical-costs/most-dangerous-sports-for-children/ Voight, K. (2015). 11 most dangerous sports children play. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/ health/11-most-dangerous-sports-your-child-can-play Voyles, C. (2019). Sex segregation in sport is a denial of rights and opportunities. Health and Human Rights Journal. https://www.hhrjournal.org/2019/06/sex-segregation-in-sport-a-denialof-rights-and-opportunities-for-health/ Wagstaff, C. R. D., Fletcher, D., & Hanton, S. (2012). Exploring emotion abilities and regulation strategies in sport organizations. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 1(4), 268–282. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028814 Wagstaff, M., & Parker, A. (2020). Youth, “waithood,” and social change: Sport, mentoring, and empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Sport for Development. https://jsfd.org/ Wallace, L. (2011). Do sports helmets help or hurt? The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/ent ertainment/archive/2011/02/do-sports-helmets-help-or-hurt/71407/ Wang, J. (2021). What separates a sport from an activity or game? Western Gazette. https://wester ngazette.ca/sports/what-separates-a-sport-from-an-activity-or-game/article_24897b86-859711eb-b3d5-031d614a4e96.html Whitley, M. A., Collison-Randall, H., Wright, P. M., Darnell, S. C., Schulenkorf, N., Knee, E., Holt, N. L., & Richards, J. (2022). Moving beyond disciplinary silos: The potential for transdisciplinary research in Sport for Development. Journal of Sport for Development. https://jsf d.org Wills, M. (2017). The uneasy history of integrated sports. Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/the-uneasyhistory-of-integrated-sports-in-america/ Yurcaba, J. 2022). Louisiana becomes 18th state to enact transgender athlete bans. NBC News. https:/ /www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/louisiana-becomes-18th-state-enact-tra nsgender-athlete-ban-rcna32328 Wolff, E. (2022). Power of sports lab. https://www.sportanddev.org/en/user/eli-wolff

Chapter 2

Commercialization and Economics of Sports: Human Rights Implications Jeremy Levine

Abstract This chapter explores the relationship between sports and authoritarian capitalist regimes since the end of the Cold War and how that relationship has caused the degradation of human rights around the world, while also fueling geopolitical instability. From the hosting of international sporting events to sovereign wealth funds acquiring ownership stakes in both professional sports teams and leagues, research shows that while one of the major beneficiaries to the expansion of global capitalism has been professional sports, it has also made responding to violations of human rights and international law significantly more difficult. The countries of focus are China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Topics of discussion include the National Basketball Association and the 2019 Hong Kong protests, Russia’s illegal annexing Crimea following the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and still being allowed to host the 2018 World Cup, investments in the Premier League made by Russian oligarchs, and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. Keywords Authoritarian capitalism · China · Russia · Saudi Arabia · Qatar · Abu Dhabi · World Cup · Olympics

2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 Democracy and Capitalism Are not Synonymous With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Cold War officially coming to a close, many scholars were optimistic in the 1990s about the spread of both capitalism and democracy. Nicolai Petro quoted a Russian economist in his 1995 book that said Russia would become a normal and affluent country over the coming decades and Europe would want to join Russia by the end of the twenty-first century (Petro, 1995). J. Levine (B) Stony Brook University—SUNY, Stony Brook, NY, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing (eds.), Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_2

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It was G. John Ikenberry who claimed China was more interested in asserting itself as a leader within the post-WWII order rather than challenging it and that the other BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) would follow similar paths (Dams & van der Putten, 2015). But it was Francis Fukuyama in his 1989 article “The End of History?” who wrote the following: What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular postwar period in history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government. This is not to say that there will no longer be events to fill the pages of Foreign Affairs’s yearly summaries of international relations, for the victory of liberalism has occurred primarily in the realm of ideas or consciousness and is as yet incomplete in the real or material world. But there are powerful reasons for believing that it is the ideal that will govern the material world in the long run. (Fukuyama, 1989)

Many government officials and bureaucrats expressed similar optimism once the Cold War ended and the modern era of globalization began. For example, President Clinton stated in 1997, “Our belief that, over time, growing interdependence would have a liberalizing effect on China” (The White House, 1997). Former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul wrote, “In other words, Russia had completed its transition to an electoral democracy” following the victory of Boris Yeltsin in 1996 (McFaul, 1997). Even in the Middle East there began to be a wave of optimism once the Arab Spring began and what that could have potentially meant for both democracy and human rights in the region. But the expansion of capitalism and the emergence of the global economy that has interconnected nations like never before and has caused nations to become more interdependent on one another than ever before did not produce the new liberal order so many expected. The very same markets that proponents of neoliberalism and global capitalism expected to cause the further erosion of state apparatuses have instead been harnessed and manipulated by authoritarian regimes to preserve their survival. In a recent interview on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” United States Senator Marco Rubio stated, “…the Chinese have found a way to use capitalism against us… and what I mean by that is the ability to attract investment into entities that are deeply linked to the state.” Senator Mark Warner stated during the same interview that he initially shared much of the same optimism as others mentioned in this chapter about the potential benefits of bringing China into current liberal order, which I imagine extended to other nations as well, but that he was wrong (CBS News, 2023). What this chapter will refer to as authoritarian capitalism has also been referred to as “bureaucratic capitalism” by Kenneth Lieberthal from the University of Michigan and Brookings Institution, and “state capitalism” by one of the leading experts on China, John Gittings (Meredith, 2007). So in Russia for example, rather than Russia forego its imperial ambitions and instead focus on becoming a multiethnic democratic state as Petro believed would occur (Petro, 1995), the imperialist elements of the Kremlin remained and have harnessed capitalism in order to further its expansionary foreign policy objectives that have come at the expense of its smaller neighbors, such

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as Georgia and Ukraine. The expansion of global capitalism has produced neither democracy nor an improvement in human rights throughout much of the Middle East either.

2.1.2 Authoritarian Capitalism, Sovereign Wealth Funds, and the State Conventional neoclassical economics teaches that the role of the state becomes diminished the more a particular society embraces free markets. Textbooks Economics: Principles and Policy by Baumol, Blinder, and Solow define terms like laissez-faire and market system, along with describe how all market systems are mixed to different extents when it comes to the role of the state and how some governments attempt to engage in central planning despite the many challenges the authors make clear that poses. But just like most other economics textbooks I have come across as someone who has previously taught economics courses at the undergraduate and graduate level, there is no mention of bringing the two sides together as authoritarian, or state capitalism, attempts to do (Baumol et al., 2020). It was also Milton Friedman in Capitalism and Freedom who stated those who oppose the free market are also in opposition to freedom and while the need for the state might never be completely be eliminated, markets help ensure that the number of decisions needed to be decided by political means is greatly reduced (Friedman, 1962). Sociologists, especially world-systems theorists, have also expanded upon this idea beginning with Immanuel Wallerstein and his idea of the capitalist worldeconomy whose roots can be traced back to the sixteenth century. As the primary purpose of political energy becomes dedicated to securing monopoly rights for oneself, the state is no longer the central economic driver and yields to the market, which offers better incentives regarding productivity and modern economic development (Wallerstein, 1974). Wallerstein also cited how the state in the seventeenth century United Provinces was not as strong as competing European state apparatuses, such as in France, and yet the Dutch were still able to establish hegemony and show that a strong state was not needed in a capitalist-world economy (Wallerstein, 1980). Giovanni Arrighi and Beverly Silver went into greater detail about the Dutch in the seventeenth century with how the state helped joint-stock companies and other private ventures gain competitive advantages in the market, but relinquished from being the main economic driver and active participant in the market itself (Arrighi & Silver, 1999). But as Richard W. Carney wrote in his book Authoritarian Capitalism: Sovereign Wealth Funds and State-Owned Enterprises in East Asia and Beyond, authoritarian regimes have started to use capitalism and markets as a means to solidify their rule and make their citizens more dependent on the state for economic prosperity and stability. One of the ways these regimes have been able to become major players in capitalism is through the creation of sovereign wealth funds, which have allowed them

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to make sizeable financial investments throughout the world (Carney, 2018) with an example of this being the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia investing heavily in the public equity funds established by Jared Kushner and Steven Mnuchin. Despite the brutal killing of Jamal Khashoggi that American intelligence has made clear was ordered by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, Kushner’s Affinity Partners recently received two billion dollars and Mnuchin’s Liberty Strategic Capital received one billion dollars (Kirkpatrick & Kelly, 2022). Total Assets of sovereign wealth funds have increased significantly since the start of the twenty-first century from one trillion dollars in 2000 to just over seven trillion by 2015. Given the scale of assets owned by these investment funds, especially with many of the investments being in the West, there has been growing concern about how foreign political objectives can influence the strategic decisions made by some of the largest companies in the world (Carney, 2018). This chapter will later on detail how similar investments have been made in the sports industry by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in golf, soccer, and wrestling as the human rights catastrophe in Yemen from the Saudi-led military campaign continues and critics of the royal family like Jamal Khashoggi are killed with a bone saw. Sociologists like Axelrod and Keohane have written that states operate in a capitalistic economic manner and possess a good amount of autonomy to pursue their self-interests as economic actors. Giddens went as far as to substitute states entirely for capitalists and the entire state system as capitalism (Boli & Thomas, 1997). This can be traced back historically to the Italian city-states, particularly Venice where the state played a much more active role despite there being a “strong subcomponent of individual enterprise.” Even in Genoa, shipbuilding in the twelfth century went from being primarily financed through private capital to the state later taking on much larger roles in regulating and facilitating (Abu-Lughod, 1991). Once someone who also shared the same optimism as other scholars cited in this chapter, Peter Bloom has written how political authoritarianism has become more entrenched in the era of globalization with the spread of democracy either slowing, or reversing entirely in places such as Turkey and Hungary. Previous literature that claimed economic liberalization needed to first occur for democratization to later be established, along with the supposed complementary relationship between economic and political liberalization, has been severely challenged with the rise of authoritarian capitalism (Bloom, 2016). One of the pieces of literature cited by Peter Bloom was Barrington Moore’s Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Beginning with the English Civil War, Moore explained how the political and economic climate of England slowly transformed over a period of roughly two centuries in what he described as “the strengthening of Parliament at the expense of the king.” In order for parliament to be strengthened following the English Civil War and later the Glorious Revolution, both of which occurred in the seventeenth century, an economic base containing an upper class that opposed the crown preceded those events and was first established. That upper class was able to come into being due to the rising prominence of the wool industry (Moore, 1966).

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However, the Middle East with its important oil and natural gas industries for the global economy provide a stark contrast to what Barrington Moore claimed happened in England between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The Saudi Royal Family, for example, has not seen its grip on power weakened and as Eva Bellin wrote in “The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Exceptionalism in Comparative Perspective,” autonomous political initiatives remain suppressed despite whatever mixed economic liberalization efforts have occurred in the region. “Democratic transition can be carried out successfully only when the state’s coercive apparatus lack the will or capacity to crush it. Where the coercive apparatus remains intact and opposed to political reform, democratic transition will not occur.” For Bellin, it was more about the present conditions rather than any prerequisites that Moore believed was necessary for a society to liberate itself (Bellin, 2004). But what happened in England, according to Barrington Moore, meant the practice of serfdom and the peasant class trapped at the bottom of the system was destroyed (Moore, 1966). This would set England on a much different trajectory than that of China, for example, which through a predominantly rural and peasant driven revolution, would sweep Mao Zedong and the communists to power following the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. While not a monarchy like England, the state apparatus controlled by the Chinese Communist Party has launched recent crackdowns whether it be against its domestic tech industry (Kharpal, 2022) or the silencing of professional tennis player Peng Shuai (Clarey & Rothenberg, 2022). The Kremlin under Vladimir Putin has wielded similar power against oligarchs, such as when oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced to fourteen years in prison in 2010 (Parfitt, 2010). Whether it is the Chinese Communist Party or Russia under Vladimir Putin, the goal is to keep whatever upper class, middle class, and rising economic sectors small enough so that they will always be dependent on the state apparatus for their survival, which is similar to what Barrington Moore wrote about those two nations regarding their nineteenth and early twentieth century histories (Moore, 1966). This is similar to what proponents of the internal development perspective argue when it comes to state dominance being dependent on internal economic and technological development, along with which class controls the state and wields political power (Bergesen, 1980). In “Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy”, Seymour Martin Lipsett cited Max Weber, who wrote in the early twentieth century that the spread of what he called “Western cultural and capitalist economy” would not guarantee the formation of democracy in Russia. Weber would later be proven correct given the result of the Russian Revolution when Czar Nicholas II was overthrown (Lipset, 1959). In her book In her 1999 book Russia and Germany Reborn: Unification, the Soviet Collapse, and the New Europe, Angela E. Stent claimed it was very difficult to predict how Russia would end up with the twenty-first century about to begin. But if it reverted back to authoritarianism, which unfortunately is what has happened under Vladimir Putin, then confrontations with the European

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Union, NATO, and Ukraine were inevitable (Stent, 1999). More detail about this later in the chapter, but Russia illegally annexed Crimea following hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics and was still allowed by FIFA to host the 2018 World Cup.

2.1.3 China Between 1978 and 1988, the economy of China doubled in size and annual exports rose from less than $10 billion dollars to over $50 billion with that number reaching $200 billion by the 1990s. Trade between China and the United States in 1976 when Mao died was only $336 million, which was roughly only ten percent of the value of trade between the United States and Taiwan. Now trade between China and the United States is significantly higher than what still occurs between the United States and Taiwan. China joined both the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in 1981 (Kissinger, 2011). and later the World Trade Organization in 2001 (Kroeber, 2016). It became the second-largest economy in the world when it surpassed Japan in 1992 and annual inflows of foreign direct investment were between $35 and $37 billion dollars despite the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 (Kissinger, 2011). And one multinational enterprise that looked to capitalize on China’s rise was the National Basketball Association. The first professional basketball player from China to be drafted in the United States was Zheng Haixia by the WNBA team Los Angeles Sparks in 1997, which was then followed up four years later by the first Chinese male playing in the NBA, Wang Zhizi. But the major milestone and breakthrough for the National Basketball Association to penetrate the Chinese market was the drafting of Yao Ming by the Houston Rockets in 2002. This caused the popularity of basketball to soar in China, which was reflected in over two hundred million people in China watching Yao Ming’s first NBA game that was against Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and the Los Angeles Lakers. There is arguably no bigger brand in basketball than the Lakers, so to make that both the first game of the season and the first game where the citizens of China could watch Yao Ming in the NBA was brilliant marketing (Cha & Lim, 2019). The early success of the National Basketball Association in China led to the creation of NBA China in 2008 with that enterprise more than doubling in value by 2012 from $2 billion to over $4 billion. This has caused every NBA franchise to increase in value by $133 million and the league to garner thirty-four media and marketing partners in China. The most recent of those business deals was the fiveyear contract signed by the NBA and Tencent in 2019 that gave Tencent exclusive streaming rights to broadcast live NBA games throughout China. That contract has helped the league earn between $1 and $2 billion annually and given that over three hundred million people in China (roughly the entire population of the United States) play basketball and over six hundred million people (roughly double the entire population of the United States) watch the games, the profitability expectations for the NBA were extremely high. To just give an example, more people in China watched

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the final game of the 2019 NBA Finals between the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors than in the United States despite their not being a major star from China on either team and Jeremy Lin on the Raptors being a Taiwanese-American (Cha & Lim, 2019). Over a ten year period from when the National Basketball Association first began to engage China in 2002, the middle class rose from roughly twenty-five percent of the population to thirty-one percent by 2012 with over four hundred million people. A middle class of over four hundred million people is more than the entire population of the United States, which is why China has become so attractive to many multinational enterprises. But it is that potential and market power that scholars have referred to as “predatory liberalism.” One of the main ideas behind globalization and the economies of nations becoming interconnected is that the more cooperation increases, the likelihood of nations engaging in conflict against one another decreases. Where it becomes predatory is when one nation, or nations, are more committed to the idea of maintaining cooperation and will therefore excuse, turn a blind eye, or even become complicit to a nation like China when it acts in bad faith, engages in aggressive behavior, or commits serious human rights violations. For example, two years after the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China launched an aggressive campaign against Norway following the Nobel Committee awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, for his non-violent human rights activism in China that included being part of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Norway saw its market share of salmon exports to China decline from ninety percent in 2010 to thirty percent three years later. Relations would between the two nations would not improve for another six years and resulted in Norway voting more aligned with China when it came to United Nations resolutions concerning human rights (Cha & Lim, 2019). South Korea experienced similar circumstances in 2017, one year before it was set to host the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Following the United States placing a missile defense system in South Korea, worth noting the United States has maintained a military presence in South Korea since the Korean War, China launched a boycott against the South Korean company Lotte Group. The company would later be forced out of China altogether, which was then followed up with ticket sales for the 2018 Winter Olympics being lower than expected due to waning Chinese interest in attending (Cha & Lim, 2019). One can then argue that not only was China not strongly condemned for these actions taken against other nations, it was also rewarded by being allowed to still host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Despite having such wide success in China for nearly two decades, the National Basketball Association would eventually find itself in the crosshairs of the Chinese Communist Party. Darrel Morey, who at the time was general manager of the Houston Rockets, tweeted an image with the slogan “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong,” which showed obvious support for the 2019 protests that rocked the region. China responded by completely removing all Houston Rockets merchandise available for purchase, refusing to air any Rockets basketball games on Chinese television, and demanding the Houston Rockets fire Darryl Morey, which is essentially attempting to tell the private business based in another country who it can and cannot hire.

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The Houston Rockets would not fire Darryl Morey, but he was forced to take down the tweet and the NBA and many players distanced themselves from what Morey tweeted (Cha & Lim, 2020). Lebron James, for example, stated Darryl Morey was “either misinformed or not really educated on the situation” and then later said him and the Lakers were not informed enough on what was happening in Hong Kong to comment on the matter (Silverman, 2019). The NBA acknowledged that millions of dollars had been lost as a result of the uproar caused by what Darryl Morey had tweeted (Cha & Lim, 2020) despite having the First Amendment rights to do so in the United States. Those losses also extend to individual players, such as Lebron James, as well (Silverman, 2019). Similar situations have arose due to current player Enes Kanter speaking out not only against the government of his home country Turkey, but also against China regarding Hong Kong, along with Tibet, Taiwan, and the internment of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang province of China. The Turkish government has since suspended Kanter’s passport (Lucy, 2021). According to Harvard economist Dani Rodrik, “Democracies have the right to protect their social arrangements. And when this right clashes with the requirements of the global economy, it is the latter that should give way” (Kuttner, 2018). Unfortunately, it appears that China has been able to establish in many instances how Americans get to exert their First Amendment Rights with professional sports leagues like the NBA prioritizing short-term profits and allowing China to exert its power and leverage over the vulnerabilities that comes with globalization and economic interdependence (Cha & Lim, 2019). A more recent example is when Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase, was forced to apologize for publicly stating, “I was just in Hong Kong, I made a joke that the Communist Party is celebrating its 100th year. So is JPMorgan. And I’ll make you a bet we last longer… I can’t say that in China. They probably are listening anyway” (Levitt, 2021).

2.1.4 China and the Olympics From the beginning of the modern Olympics as we know it today, there have always been political elements with both nations and political leaders looking to make statements on the global stage. Authoritarians like Benito Mussolini and Vladimir looked to use sport to legitimize their newly established political systems, while Germany winning the most medals during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin was later used by Hitler and the Nazis for propaganda purposes. Developing countries have also used hosting the games as a means to announce to the world that they have arrived, such as Japan in 1964 with the Summer Olympics being in Tokyo and South Korea with the 1988 Summer Olympics being held in Seoul (Price & Dayan, 2018). What made China’s position unique hosting both the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics is that it was able to do all of those things within a short amount of time. In September 2005, leaders in the Chinese Communist Party, such as Li Junru, made it clear that the envisioned “Chinese Dream” would

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be different from the “American Dream” with that dream being a balance between political nationalism and capitalism in the era of globalization. In addition to hosting a very successful Summer Olympics three years later, which made the events and massacre in Tiananmen Square in 1989 seem like a distant memory, the “Chinese Dream” was also fueled by the 2008 Financial Crisis and the damage it did to the reputation of Western, free market capitalism (Bloom, 2016). This dream would also continue to be on display when China hosted both the Shanghai World Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010, all of which allowed the regime to be further legitimized by both the international community and its own citizens (Chen, 2012).

2.1.5 Russia As a former senior KGB officer told Catherine Belton for her book Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West, “You can’t use nuclear weapons every day, but you can use this black cash every day. It can be deployed to dismantle the Western system from the inside” (Belton, 2020). Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, Russian companies were only able to raise $1.3 billion from listing shares of stock through 2004. But in 2005, Russian companies began choosing the London Stock Exchange over the New York Stock Exchange due to having less stringent requirements for listing, which resulted in over $4 billion being raised. Extending from that similar optimism about the expansion of free markets and liberalism following the end of the Cold War, many in the West believed Russian companies listing in the West would eventually adopt Western corporate governing and transparency standards. Western bankers were quick to travel to Moscow and many Western cities, especially London, became major investment hubs for Russian money despite much of it coming from shell companies based in Cyprus, the British Virgin Islands, Panama, Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man. One of the major proponents of opening up London to Russian money was British prime minister Tony Blair and the money generated for the Russians would be later used to hire bankers, lawyers, public relations firms, and consultants who would go on to do Russia’s bidding in the West. Many British lords would sit on the boards of those companies and arguably the most prominent Western leader outside the United Kingdom who would go on to work with the Russians after the end of his political tenure was former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Schroeder was on the board of the Nord Stream gas pipeline consortium (Belton, 2020) and since Putin authorized the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he has yet to apologize. It is also worth noting that while Russia has mostly avoided listing its company on American exchanges, as of March 31, 2022, two hundred sixty-one Chinese companies were listed on exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ and had a total market capitalization of over one trillion dollars (U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 2022).

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Where this flow of money into the United Kingdom, particularly London, is relevant when it comes to sports is the 2003 purchase of London-based soccer team Chelsea by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. He purchased the soccer club for $240 million and few have ever asked where the money for high-priced players and renovations for Stamford Bridge Stadium have come from. But his initial fortune stems from the sale of his oil company Sibneft to Russian state energy giant Gazprom for $13 billion dollars. And up until the war in Ukraine, Gazprom was the sponsor of the German soccer team FC Schalke (Tiwari, 2022). The energy company has also been one of the main sponsors of the program “Football for Friends,” which had the support of FIFA, UEFA, the United Nations, Olympics and Paralympics committees, leading soccer clubs, international charities, and governments around the world (Arnold, 2021). It has also engaged in what many analysts have labeled as the “weaponization” of natural gas exports against Ukraine since the early 1990s. After Ukraine left the monetary union it was part of with Russia in 1993, Russia threatened to no longer sell natural gas to Ukraine at the subsidized low price it had been and only offered those low prices once again if Ukraine agreed to surrender the nuclear weapons arsenal it inherited from the Soviet Union and return control of the Black Sea Fleet to Russia. Gazprom also entered the United Kingdom market on a spot market basis for natural following the “bilateral energy” pact that was signed between Britain and Russia in 2003, which was the same year the sale of Chelsea to Roman Abramovich occurred (Hogselius, 2013). The major speculation surrounding the purchase of Chelsea by Roman Abramovich was whether he made that decision on his own or was following orders given by Vladimir Putin. While aides close to the Russian oligarch have denied Putin had anything to do with the acquisition, there is no denying that it has helped extend Russia’s influence over both British elites and ordinary citizens, while also being helpful when it came to lobbying FIFA to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia (Belton, 2020). Both his and Chelsea’s popularity soared when just two years after Abramovich acquired the club, Chelsea won its first Premier League title in sixty years (Robinson, 2018). Even as recently as November 2021, Roman Abramovich hosted Israeli president Isaac Herzog (Harris, 2021) and many have since complained about Israel perhaps not doing as much as it could when it comes to supporting Ukraine given that it will not allow the Iron Dome defense system to be transferred there despite the many Russian missile attacks on civilian targets and critical infrastructure (Tiwari, 2022). The desire to extend Russian influence is not hyperbole and in 2019, Vladimir Putin stated himself that, “sport is, without any exaggeration, a political task related to the country’s prestige at the international level.” Just ten years prior, Putin had the Ministry of Sport and the Russian Olympic Committee work together to establish the “Russian International Olympic University” in Sochi, which would later go on to host the 2014 Winter Olympics right on the eve of when Crimea was illegally annexed. The goal for the university was to become a leading research and education center for business education related to sports. Putin also had the Higher School of Economics establish a joint program with FIFA and sport diplomacy is now considered by

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professors at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations to be “vehicle of communication, dialogue, and tolerance” (Arnold, 2021). In 2007, estimates for the development of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi showed that it would cost the Russian state around $12 billion. But by the time the games were set to begin, costs had run over $50 billion, which had proven to be a corrupt lucrative source of revenue for Putin and his cronies, while also being more expensive than the $40 billion spent by China for the 2008 Summer Olympics (Belton, 2020). The main sponsor for the 2014 Winter Olympics was Coca-Cola, just as it had for all Olympics dating back to 1932 (Arnold, 2021). So given the financial ties that bound Russia and the United Kingdom for nearly two decades, perhaps Vladimir Putin thought the British would not support Ukraine so forcefully given that the country did little to nothing following the 2008 invasion of Georgia launched by Russia, the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, propping up the Assad regime in Syria beginning in 2015, and even the 2006 poisoning FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko that happened on British soil (Belton, 2020). Western banks became conduits for money laundering, Western companies had international sporting events being hosted by Russia that needed sponsoring, and there was both so much money to be made and influence to extend for the Russians when it came to sports.

2.1.6 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia’s unique and strategically important position when it comes to the West began in 1933 when the Standard Oil Company of California was granted oil concession rights in Saudi Arabia. At the time, there was only one city in Saudi Arabia where foreigners were allowed to live, Jeddah, and the State Department of the United States had no established diplomatic representation in that city. Five years and seven oil wells later, oil was discovered beneath the desert of Saudi Arabia and the parent companies of the Arabian-based venture, California-Arabian Standard Oil Company and Texaco, allowed the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil) and the Standard Oil Company of New York (Socony, which is now also ExxonMobil) to buy into the Arabian operations and rename it the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco). This would eventually lead to the U.S. State Department under President Harry Truman sending its first ambassador to Saudi Arabia in the city of Jeddah (Wald, 2018). While it was the prospects and then discovery of oil that led to the United States to court Saudi Arabia and the ruling Saud family, the latter portion of the twentieth century and the twenty-first century also saw the relationship focus on terrorism. The founder of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and fifteen of the nineteen hijackers on 9/ 11 were Saudi and many terrorist attacks beginning in the 1990s were carried out in Saudi Arabia itself, including the truck bombing of the Khobar Towers in 1996 that killed nineteen American airmen. Where this becomes relevant in this chapter is Saudi Arabia having been labeled for years by analysts, politicians, and prominent

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media members as the main source of financing and exporting of terrorism and fanaticism (Wald, 2018). As increasing awareness about climate change and fossil fuel emissions is causing nations to seek other sources of energy and reduce their dependency on oil, this could in theory also reduce the influence around the world that Saudi Arabia has been able to develop since its founding nearly one hundred years ago. This takes us to the sovereign wealth fund established by the Saudi royal family, the Public Investment Fund, its recent major investments in the sports industry, and how that money generated could transform the Saudi state, further deepen and expand the influence of the Saudis in the West, and increase the financing needed to further expand extremist ideologies that fuel terrorism. Despite the brutal killing of Jamal Khashoggi and the ongoing war in Yemen that has resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, the Public Investment Fund was able to acquire the British soccer team Newcastle United in 2021. Even when Russian money was removed from the Premier League with Roman Abramovich no longer being the owner of Chelsea following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Saudi money remains in place and deeply entrenched. The individual chosen to be nonexecutive chairman of the Newcastle board of directors was Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan, who was also appointed to be governor of the investment fund in 2017 and chairman of Saudi Aramco in 2019. Al-Rumayyan is also a former member of the board of directors of the Saudi Stock Exchange, Tadawul, and has also been an adviser to the Saudi cabinet since 2016 (Who’s Who, 2021). This remains part of the top-down economic plan being enacted by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, which has become known as Vision 2030 and is intended to diversify the economy of Saudi Arabia and not make it as dependent on oil as it currently is. It centers around the Public Investment Fund increasing the share of state revenue coming from investments rather than oil and it so far has invested $90 billion in the Japanese capital shop called SoftBank, along with also having invested in Uber, Magic Leap, Tesla, and Lucid Motors (Wald, 2018). As recent as August 2022, the fund has also increased its investments in Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock Inc., and Alphabet Inc., which is the parent company of Google (Jones, 2022). Since the acquisition of Newcastle United, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia has expanded its influence into sports by financing the LIV Tour with its quest to challenge the supremacy of the PGA Tour in the sport of golf. The PGA Tour has responded by suspending any golfer who participates in the LIV and two of the major differences between the tours are the LIV offers no less than $120,000 to the last place finisher of a tournament and there is no missing the cut. Some of the tournaments have been hosted at gold courses owned by former President Donald Trump, who often boasted about the close relationship he had with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, defended Muhammad bin Salman after Jamal Khashoggi was killed, and withdrew the United States from the Iran Nuclear Deal that was established by his predecessor Barack Obama (Princes, 2022). All those decisions had major geopolitical ramifications and were all to the liking of Saudi Arabia and one has to wonder given the money being exchanged here between the Saudi-backed LIV Tour and Trump, along with the billions provided to the private equity funded started by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, as previously mentioned in this chapter, one has to

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wonder if those political decisions were in the best interest of the United States and if money surrounding sports had anything to do with them? Beyond Trump, the LIV Tour and its CEO, Greg Norman, have greatly upset both Democrats and Republicans in Washington. Following testimony provided by Norman to Congress, Republican Congressman Chip Roy wrote a letter to the Department of Justice asking for the DOJ to investigate the tour and whether Greg Norman should have to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) due to his conduct (Kirchgaessner, 2022). While capitol hill seems to understand the seriousness surrounding the LIV Tour and how sports is being used to deepen the economic interdependence between the United States and Saudi Arabia, members of the sports media seem to be completely missing the boat on this subject. For example, Stephen A. Smith from ESPN made the following comments after Tiger Woods decided to continue supporting the PGA Tour over the LIV: I thought this was America. I thought we were a capitalistic society. I thought competition breeds our greatness. That’s what I thought. Tiger Woods is sitting there acting like the PGA should be the only game in town… That’s America. You establish your level of dominance to the point that it don’t matter what some competition is going to do, cool. This is different” (Richman, 2022). “You got Tiger Woods supporting, feeling like players betrayed the PGA. What do you owe the PGA? Show the PGA, you work you produce, you go out there and you earn your money”. (Richman, 2022) “But I am a proud American citizen and I do believe in the American system when it talks about capitalism when it talks about meritocracy and handling your business and handling your own and may the best man and woman win. So if you better than LIV, be better. (Richman, 2022)

As previously discussed in this chapter, from an economics textbook perspective Stephen A. Smith might not wrong. Competition between the two tours could result in the PGA Tour making changes to better help and compensate its golfers. There is also an antitrust argument concerning monopolies, although the United States seems okay with having one professional league possess all the economic power of a particular sport. But this is where, despite many people who prefer to not mix sports and politics or sports with human rights, it is not possible to do that in this situation. Members of the sports media like Stephen A. Smith might not be wrong, but there arguments are vastly incomplete. When members of Congress are wondering whether the top individual of the LIV should have to register as a foreign agent and many are questioning the profitability potential for the Saudis and if it is severely lacking, then it is worth asking why the Saudis have decided to get involved with professional golf, especially if the answers have nothing to do with capitalism itself. If more is going on here besides just making money, which I believe is what has been called “sportswashing,” then the arguments made by proponents of the LIV Tour and those who claim to care about fairness and capitalism do not hold any water. At the time this chapter is being written, there are negotiations between the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia for the fund to acquire the company whose controlling shareholder remains Vince McMahon. The WWE has recently hired JPMorgan to advise it on any potential

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sale and it is worth noting that there are other potential bidders for the company, including Fox, Disney, Warner Bros., Netflix, Amazon, UFC owner Endeavor Group Holdings, and Liberty Media, which also owns Formula One. But it is the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia that has gained significant attention and speculation about a potential deal, especially since the WWE and Saudi Arabia already have an established business relationship dating back to 2018 that guarantees to major wrestling events will take place in Saudi Arabia each year through 2027. That deal so far has been lucrative for the WWE and the McMahon family bring in between $50 and $55 million per event. While reports between the two sides about an imminent deal have been premature so far, the WWE would be both a huge addition to the portfolio of the fund and allow it to significantly diversify within the sports industry as well (Chiari, 2023). The Saudis have also lured Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo to play in their country for $200 million per year for two years despite the fact that he is thirtyseven years-old and showed a clear sign that he is a declining super star at the 2022 World Cup. How that contract and his overall performance in Saudi Arabia goes remains to be seen, but given that his $200 million annual salary dwarfs any of what the top players in the world, who are also younger, are making in the British Premier League and elsewhere, more has to be occurring here than simply the profit motive associated with capitalism.

2.1.7 Qatar Being that the forward headquarters of the U.S. Central Command is located in Qatar, along with other U.S. military bases, the country has positioned itself as a strategically important ally to the United States. And in a similar manner to Saudi Arabia, although not allies themselves, Qatar has adopted its own National Vision 2030 with the stated goal being “transforming Qatar into an advanced country by 2030.” Also similar to Saudi Arabia is the driving force behind this vision, which is the sovereign wealth fund that was established in 2005, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). The QIA was designed to invest in markets around the world and as recently as 2016, it held $250 billion in assets with investments in Credit Suisse, Barclays, the London Stock Exchange, Volkswagen, Porsche, Tiffany, Royal Dutch Shell, British Airports Authority, and real estate in Western cities like London, Paris, and Washington D.C. For the purposes of this chapter, the primary focus will be on one of the divisions within the Qatar Investment Authority called Qatar Sports Investments (Tok et al., 2016). In 2010, while negotiating trade deals between France and Qatar, French president Nicolas Sarkozy persuaded the Qataris to consider purchasing the French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain (Conn, 2017). One year later, Qatar Sports Investments made its move and purchased a significant stake in the French team and then became the sole owner in 2012. In 2017, the Qataris spent 222 million euros to sign Neymar da Silva Santos Junior away from FC Barcelona. Kylian Mbappe would also soon

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be added from Monaco to PSG for the second-highest transfer fee ever recorded at the time (Robinson, 2018). Between 2012 and 2016, Qatar spent 607 million euros to secure television rights for France’s Ligue 1, and then spent another 726 million euros for those rights through 2020. The television rights secured by Qatar Sports Investments were given to beIN Sports, which is part of the Qatari stateowned Al Jazeera. One chairman, Nasser al Khelaifi, was selected to oversee beIn Sports, Paris Saint-Germain, and Qatar Sports Investments. Worth noting that as Qatar Sports Investments was becoming more involved with French soccer, Qatar Airways ordered fifty A320 planes from the French company airbus for $75 million each (Conn, 2017). Qatar also became involved with LaLiga in Spain when the biggest jersey sponsorship deal at the time was signed between FC Barcelona and the Qatar Foundation for 165 million euros over five years. While this was not well-received by many Barcelona fans, who viewed their team more as a Catalan-nationalist social club rather than something that should be a global brand, the soccer team replaced the Qatar Foundation in 2013 with Qatar Airways, which was the first ever corporate sponsor for the club (Kuper, 2021). Despite not being awarded the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics, along with having no rich history in soccer, Qatar was the first country in the Middle East to be selected to host the World Cup when it was selected over eleven other countries to host the event in 2022. The relationship between FIFA and Qatar that eventually led to the 2022 World Cup began with Mohammad bin Hammam, who forged a close relationship with Sepp Blatter after beginning his tenure on the board of FIFA in 1996. Two years later, after Sepp Blatter became president of FIFA, which is headquartered in Zurich, rumors swirled that bin Hammam bribed many of the voters who chose Blatter over UEFA president Lennart Johansson. After Blatter was re-elected in 2002, Mohammad bin Hammam became president of the Asian Football Confederation and Qatar would host the Asian Confederation Cup nine years later. While the bribery scandal surrounding FIFA and Qatar would not cause the tournament to be relocated, bin Hammam would eventually be banned for life by FIFA (Conn, 2017). Ties between Qatar and the West have extended even further with Qatar now being nominated by the United States as a “Major Non-Nato Ally” (MNNA), which puts the country on the same level as Australia and Japan. The status is also enjoyed by Middle East nations Bahrain, Kuwait, Israel, and Egypt with Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates still under consideration while still being close security partners of the United States (Cooper, 2022).

2.1.8 United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates as it is known today was founded in 1971, three years after British prime minister Harold Wilson ordered British troops out of the region despite the local sheikhs wanting them to stay. Six of the sheikhdoms would soon come together with a seventh one joining shortly after, but Qatar and Bahrain chose to be on

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their own. But it would be Abu Dhabi and Dubai that would be the head sheikhdom given that it possessed eighty-four percent of the country’s landmass and ninety percent of the oil and gas deposits. Over the span of forty years, Abu Dhabi was able to use oil to build and develop a modern society and similar to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the economic vision became known as The Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030. What followed were efforts to soften its image on the global stage in order to be taken more seriously. It wanted Western powers and businesses to feel comfortable engaging in the region despite its poor human rights record that has been documented by Amnesty International, which included restrictions on freedom of the press, limited women’s rights, ban on homosexuality, political dissidents “disappearing,” torture and show trials, and kafala contracts for migrant workers that comprise around ninety percent of the workforce in Abu Dhabi (Robinson, 2018). Similar to Qatar Sports Investments, Abu Dhabi established the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority in order to “contribute to the international reputation of the Emirate.” It was given an annual budget of $20 to $25 million and offices in London and Frankfurt in order to help create the image of Abu Dhabi being a desired tourist destination. In 2003, Abu Dhabi established its very own international airline, Etihad Airways, which despite operating at a loss, built a fleet of forty-two planes by 2008 and then purchased one hundred more aircraft from Airbus and Boeing for an estimated $20 billion (Robinson, 2018). Abu Dhabi began to make its presence felt in sports when it hosted the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009 and 2010, along with also hosting an international golf tournament in 2010 as well. The Emiratis also secured rights to host a Formula One Grand Prix, while also breaking ground for a Ferrari-themed amusement park that would be named Ferrari world. But its biggest leap into sports would be its acquisition of British Premier League club Manchester City led by Sheikh Mansour and the Abu Dhabi United Group through its City Football Group Holding Company (Robinson, 2018). Manchester City had little historical success unlike its rival Manchester United, which had become one of the standard-bearers of international soccer. The club had also accumulated a large amount of debt. So when the Abu Dhabi United Group purchased the club in 2008, they made a big splash right away and signed Robson de Souza, also known as Robinho. Sheikh Mansour now had his soccer club and first big player signing, while also being chairman of Emirates Racing Authority, which is the body that presides over the $10 million Dubai World Cup; the richest horse race in the world. (Robinson, 2018). The acquisition of Manchester City, which has since gone on to win multiple Premier League championships, just as Chelsea had following its acquisition by Roman Abramovich, symbolized the arrival of both the United Arab Emirates, specifically Abu Dhabi, and Sheikh Monsour. As former Manchester City CEO, Garry Cook, stated, “Nobody had ever heard of Roman Abramovich until he bought Chelsea Football Club… If you’re developing your nation and you’re looking to be on a global stage, we are your poxy brand for the nation” (Robinson, 2018). The success of Manchester City with the help of the international prestige that comes with the Premier League led to City Football Group acquiring Melbourne Heart in Australia, the Uruguayan team Torque, Girona FC from the Catalonia region of Spain, a twenty

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percent stake in the Yokohama F. Marinos Japanese club, and created New York City FC in Major League Soccer in the United States that would wear the same sky-blue color as Manchester City (Robinson, 2018). Despite these set of events, the human rights situation in the United Arab Emirates remains bleak with the most recent Amnesty International report stating, “The government continued to commit serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, cruel and inhuman treatment of detainees, suppression of freedom of expression, and violation of the right to privacy. The right to health was partially fulfilled. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) continued to deprive stateless individuals of the right to nationality, impacting their access to a range of services. Courts passed death sentences and executions were reported (Amnesty International, 2022).

2.1.9 Conclusion Over the last century, sports has been both a driver for positive change and a reflection of how far we have come as a global community. There are profound example of this both in the United States and around the world, such as Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier of Major League Baseball and the emergence of women’s soccer beginning with the “Title IX Girls” in 1999. But since the end of the Cold War and the expansion of global capitalism that has carried into the twenty-first century, sports have also been used as a tool to upend the current global liberal order and undermine both international law and human rights. So long as authoritarian capitalism exists, it will always attempt to exert its influence wherever it can, and one of those places has been sports and it has caused the international community to either respond too slowly to crises around the world, or not be able to respond at all. This is not to say that the Olympics and World Cup should only be hosted in North America or Western Europe and this is also not claiming that corruption in sports does not exist in the West. But the power that sports has and the inspiration that it provides to millions, if not billions of people around the world, should be used as a force for good and the “love of the game” shared by so many should not continue to be exploited by the predatory economic behavior that exists within authoritarian capitalism.

References Abu-Lughod, J. L. (1991). Before European hegemony: The World system A.D. 1250–1350. Oxford University Press. Amnesty International. (2022). United Arab Emirates 2021. Amnesty International. https:// www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/united-arab-emirates/report-uni ted-arab-emirates/ Arab News. (2021, October 9). Who’s Who: Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan, Newcastle United football club’s board chairman. Arab News. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1944611/saudi-arabia Arnold, R. (2021). Russia and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Routledge.

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Kirchgaessner, S. (2022, September 22). US congressman accuses LIV CEO Greg Norman of pushing Saudi ‘propaganda’. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/sep/22/ greg-norman-liv-golf-series-saudi-arabia-us-congress-visit Kirkpatrick, D. D., & Kelly, K. (2022, April 10). Before giving billions to Jared Kushner, Saudi investment fund had big doubts. The Washington Post. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/10/ us/jared-kushner-saudi-investment-fund.html Kissinger, H. (2011). On China. The Penguin Press. Kroeber, A. (2016). China’s economy: What everyone needs to know. Oxford University Press. Kuper, S. (2021). Barca: The inside story of the world’s greatest football club. Short Books. Kuttner, R. (2018). Can democracy survive global capitalism. W. W. Norton. Levitt, H. (2021, November 24). Jamie Dimon offers Hasty apology after joking JP Morgan will outlast Chinese Communist Party. Time. https://time.com/6123962/jamie-dimon-jp-morgan-apo logizes-china/ Lipset, S. M. (1959). Some social requisites of democracy: Economic development and political legitimacy. The American Political Science Review, 53(1), 69–105. https://doi.org/10.2307/195 1731 Lucy, L. (2021, November 15). Stand with Kanter: Eject Chinese Censorship from the NBA. Taiwan News. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4345934 McFaul, M. (1997). Democracy unfolds in Russia. Current History, 96(612), 319–325. http://www. jstor.org/stable/45317727 Meredith, R. (2007). The elephant and the dragon: The rise of India and China and what it means for all of us. W.W. Norton. Moore, B. (1966). Social origins of dictatorship and democracy: Lord and peasant in the making of the modern world. Beacon Press. Parfitt, T. (2010, December 30). Mikhail Khodorkovsky sentenced to 14 years in prison. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/30/mikhail-khodorkovsky-jail-term Petro, N. (1995). The rebirth of Russian democracy: An interpretation of political culture. Harvard University Press. Price, M. E., & Dayan, D. (2018). Owning the olympics: Narratives of the New China. University of Michigan Press. Richman, J. (2022, August 16). ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith ‘disgusted’ by Tiger Woods rallying PGA against Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Mediaite. https://www.mediaite.com/sports/espns-stephen-asmith-disgusted-by-tiger-woods-rallying-against-saudi-backed-liv-golf/ Robinson, J. (2018). The club: How the English Premier League became the wildest, richest, most disruptive force in sports. Mariner Books. Silverman, R. (2019, October 20). What did Lebron James say about China that almost everyone else in the NBA hasn’t said, too? NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/whatdid-lebron-james-say-about-china-nearly-everyone-else-ncna1069131 Stent, A. E. (1999). Russia and Germany reborn: Unification, the Soviet collapse, and the New Europe. Princeton University Press. The White House Office of the Press Secretary. (1997, October 24). President Clinton’s remarks on China. https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/WH/New/html/19971024-3863.html Tiwari, S. (2022, July 11). Ukraine ‘tears down’ Israel’s iron dome systems says they are incapable against Russian missiles. The Eurasian Times. https://eurasiantimes.com/ukraine-tears-downisraels-iron-dome-systems-says-they-are-incapable/ Tok, M. E., Alkhater, L. R. M., & Pal, L. A. (2016). Policy-making in a transformative state: The case of Qatar. Palgrave Macmillan.

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U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. (2022, March 31). Chinese companies listed on major U.S. stock exchanges. https://www.uscc.gov/research/chinese-companies-listedmajor-us-stock-exchanges Wald, E. R. (2018). Saudi Inc.: The Arabian Kingdom’s pursuit of profit and power. Pegasus Books. Wallerstein, I. (1974). The modern world-system I: Capitalist agriculture and the origins of the European World-economy in the sixteenth century. Academic Press Inc. Wallerstein, I. (1980). The modern world-system II: Mercantilism and the consolidation of the European World-Economy, 1600–1750. Academic Press Inc.

Chapter 3

Human Rights in Paralympic Sports: Paralympic Treatment—Rolling the Gamut Jonathan Moss

Abstract For more than 25 years, I have been deeply involved in the Paralympic Fencing movement. During that time, I have witnessed some amazingly heartwarming interactions between the Paralympic athletes and the temporarily ablebodied. In contrast, I have also encountered some of the vilest behaviors, a lack of consideration for the athletes, and referees, who need accommodations, and my own lack of understanding, and fortunately leading to growth. Keywords Paralympics · Human rights · Fencing · History · Social change

3.1 A Brief History of the Paralympic Games The end of World War II brought the widespread introduction of sports for impaired athletes. The War created large numbers of injured among the military and civilians alike. In 1944 Dr. Ludwig Guttmann opened the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England. This hospital focused on those with spinal injuries. Dr. Guttmann believed in the use of sports to assist in rehabilitation. On 29 July 1948, he organized the first Stoke Mandeville Games coincidentally on the same day as the opening day of the London Olympic Games. The only sport was archery (International Paralympic Committee, 2022a). In 1960 in Rome, the first Paralympic Games were held with 400 athletes representing 23 countries. From that point forward the Paralympic Summer Games have taken place every four years like the Olympic Games. 1976, the first Winter Paralympic Games were held in Sweden, and ever since these Games have been held every four years as well. Beginning in 1988 with the Summer Games in Korea, both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games have been held at the same sites as the Olympics, but a few weeks later International Paralympic Committee, 2022a). J. Moss (B) University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing (eds.), Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_3

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The number of participating sports in the Summer Paralympic has grown. In the 2021 Tokyo Games, 22 sports were included: athletics (track and field), archery, badminton, boccia (for quadriplegics), canoe, cycling, equestrian, 5-a-side football (soccer), goalball (for the blind), judo, powerlifting, rowing, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby (for quadriplegics), and wheelchair tennis International Paralympic Committee, 2022b). The 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics welcomed a record 650 plus Para athletes from 49 National Paralympic Committees with Para athletes competing in 78 events across six Para sports—39 for men, 35 for women and four mixed events (International Paralympic Committee, 2022c).

3.2 Classification of Athletes Classification of athletes in the Paralympic movement begins with three questions the classifiers must determine: (1) Does the athlete have an eligible impairment for the sport?, (2) Does the impairment meet the minimum criteria for the sport?, and (3) Which sport class should the athlete be assigned based on the extent which the athlete can execute the tasks and activities fundamental to the sport? (International Paralympic Committee, 2022d). To generalize about people with disabilities is equivalent to racial, ethnic, gender, etc. bias. The generalizations all appear to stem from ignorance and assumptions. Like all individuals, those with disabilities are varied and many times unique. Para-athletes come in all sizes, shapes, ethnicities, genders, and more. Impairment types the classifiers encounter include impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length differences, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairments, and intellectual impairments Each paralympic sport has a group of professionals (e.g. doctors and physical therapists, among others) who have been trained to classify each athlete as that athlete’s disability applies to the sport (International Paralympic Committee, 2022d). In Para-Fencing, there are three classifications of athletes. In basic terms, Category A fencers have full use of their abdominal muscles, and at a minimum full use of the hand holding the weapon (e.g. foil, sabre, or epee). Category B fencers generally have limited abdominal muscle usage and may or may not have dexterity issues with their weapon hand. Category C fencers have disabilities that involved all their limbs and abdominal muscles. Individual competitions in Para-fencing are sorted by gender and Category, although athletes may compete above their categorization, as Curtis Lovejoy did for most of his career. He was classified as Category C, but when he competed as an individual, he competed as a Category B unless there was a Category C competition at that particular World Cup. For team competitions in fencing, at least one of the fencers must be a Category B or C fencer. These fencers will compete with each member of the other team, which means that Category A fencers will compete directly with Category B or C.

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3.3 Curtis Lovejoy (Lovejoy, 2018) I was honored to meet Curtis Lovejoy in May of 1997 in Lonato, Italy. Curtis was a member of the US Wheelchair Fencing Team traveling to a World Cup there, and I was part of the group as the US referee to the event. Curtis was an outstanding Paralympian in two sports: (1) fencing and (2) swimming. He earned Paralympic gold medals in both sports throughout his career. That first day in Lonato, Curtis asked me if I’d like to go to the pool and go for a swim. Understanding that he was an incomplete quadriplegic, I was astonished that he could swim. It was then that I learned he had 12 world records in swimming. My eyes became newly opened! As Curtis slid from his chair to poolside, he said to me, “I am going to teach myself to get up on the blocks, so I can get that next record”. He then slid into the pool and did a 100 m butterfly. Assumptions that quadriplegics must be wheelchair-bound are amongst the many issues that the disabled must contend with. Curtis trained daily at the Shepherd Center strengthening the muscles throughout his body, training in fencing and swimming, and helping others see the possibilities after injuries that would seem to limit them (Shepherd, 2023). On our next visit to Lonato several years later, I received the shock of my life. Here I believed that I was free of assumptions about our Paralympians and the disabled in general. But I was absolutely wrong! The hotel the team stayed in was essentially away from everything in this beautiful area of Northern Italy. Curtis and another Paralympic fencer who trained at the Shepherd Center, Peter Coleman, decided to get their own hotel room right on Lake Garda. Once again, the differences in disabilities shown. Curtis being an incomplete quadriplegic and Pete having spina bifida. I thought that they might have difficulties getting settled, and as their friend, I asked them if they’d like me to come along to assist. They responded, “Sure”. When we arrived at the hotel, while Pete and Curtis were checking in, I looked around the lobby and out into the street. I was disturbed to see that there was no ramp access to cross the street at the time, but to my real horror I realized all the rooms were above the lobby, and the elevator door was not wide enough for either Pete’s or Curtis’s chairs. When they approached the elevator, I asked them what floor their room was on. They told me, “The fourth”. I gasped and asked, “How are you planning to accomplish that with this elevator?” They both responded that they would walk onto the elevator. I held my wonder inside while I asked, “What about your chairs?”. Curtis responded with his radiant, infectious, and impish smile, “You can bring them up for us”. We had a little discussion and agreed it might be best to leave their daily chairs with the concierge, and move their competition chairs to the room. This made for only two trips for me. Phew! Then Curtis wheeled up to the elevator, pushed the “Up” button, and when the doors opened, stood up and walked, mechanically, onto the elevator. I ran his chair up the stairs, met him at the elevator, took the elevator down and repeated the process with Pete. From that day forward, I never made any assumptions about disabled folks I encounter. If I don’t know, I ask. We all should.

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3.4 A Personal Story: Day 1 at the Atlanta Games—Breakfast and an Epiphany I was chosen as one of eight American referees to go to the Paralympic Games in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. I must confess that I believed I could be of great assistance to these “poor wheelchair-bound souls”. I arrived at the Georgia Tech campus, one of the living quarters’ locations for those participating in any capacity at the Games. The referees received paperwork including daily schedules and room keys for one of the Georgia Tech dorms designed to house the able-bodied. It was late in the evening and travel had fatigued me enough that I decided to retire early. The next morning, I met up with George Kolombatovich, the fencing referee assigner for the Games as we were both walking to the dining tent. As we walked, we were both uncharacteristically quiet. We were both distracted by the many people wheeling their way to the dining tent. Clearly, neither of us had ever seen so many people in wheelchairs before. Personally, I was having difficulty processing what I was seeing and trying to determine how to deal with this new experience. In the past, I had observed how others behaved around the disabled. Curiosity seems to be the norm. Perhaps, individuals want to see the “differences”. But it appears those same individuals behave as if looking too long would cause them to become equally disabled. Surreptitious repetitive glances become the modus operandi. Despite my personal beliefs, I was no different. Then we entered the dining tent. Hundreds and hundreds of people with all levels of physical abilities and disabilities were approaching the seemingly endless buffets of foods along the perimeter of this enormous tent or were already enjoying their morning repast. George’s eyes grew very wide with amazement. I am certain he saw the same in me. We chose a seating location and then went to the buffets that most interested us and returned to eat. I had known George K (his nom de guerre) for about seventeen years at that point. One of his unnerving habits was to look into people’s eyes and dig deeply into their souls to find something he could hold against them. I had grown used to that, but that morning we were talking about the scheduled events, and George was looking over my right shoulder and not into my soul. I found this most disquieting, and surprisingly more uncomfortable than normal. I finally, had had enough and interrupted him by saying, “Hey! What is going on?”. He said he was watching a young man with no arms eating his breakfast of oatmeal. “I forgot to pay my apartment’s rent before I left yesterday. I guess I really don’t have any problems.” I responded, “We are in a new world to us.” I told him about the observation I made about how people view those with disabilities, and said, “When we are in a place like this, looking away from one just puts you looking at another. It has already made me realize that how we gaze on those with disabilities needn’t be different than how we would while walking the streets of Manhattan”. Breakfast that morning had already made dramatic changes in my worldview that I believed had been completely inclusive.

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With newly opened eyes, I became acutely aware of situations that were difficult for those in wheelchairs. One of these happened immediately after breakfast. It turned out that the dorms and the food were at the crest of a fairly steep hill on the Georgia Tech campus. Some of the athletes were able to push their chairs up the hill with difficulty but perseverance, others caught rides on large golf carts, while others were assist with pushes from teammates. Some of the more daring athletes would grab onto the golf carts and try for a tow up the hill. At least once this proved disastrous, as the athlete was yanked out of his chair! As with so many situations, planning the locations for people in wheelchairs to stay is not simply finding rooms.

3.4.1 Atlanta Day One Continued: Mike Massik’s Nephew 2 Stories In 1996, the United States hosted the Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. The young nephew of US Fencing’s executive director, Michael Massik, was present at the fencing venue as the referees helped the organizers air out the equipment and the volunteers. The young man, twelve/thirteen years old was wearing long pants that completely covered both of his legs. It was particularly hot as would be the case in Atlanta in the summer. I suggested that he put on shorts like the rest of us to keep cool. His face reddened, but he never responded. Several hours later, I found myself on the elevator leaving the fencing venue with Mike, his nephew, and several members of the Polish Standing Volleyball Team. Fencing and volleyball were housed in the same facility. As we were ascending, one of the volleyball players must have noticed something about Mike’s nephew. He was looking at the boy’s leg. Then he said, “I have the same model prosthesis.” As he pointed to a place on his artificial leg where it joined his leg just above the knee, he continued, “I am having some issues with this area. How well is yours working?”. The young boy looked up at this man, and they began to discuss the device. The next day we, once again, were getting our training on the procedures and equipment for the fencing events when Mike’s nephew came in, no longer wearing those uncomfortable long pants but shorts. He had a huge smile on his face, came up to me, and gave me a high five. He was among his people and was totally accepted. After lunch, I had some free time, so I went to watch some volleyball practice. Mike’s nephew came with me. The Polish Team was going to play the Swedish Team in a friendly competition that would help the volleyball organizers to train their officials for the events ahead. When the players who were on the elevator with us the day before saw the boy, they called him over to join them and play. The Swedes protested saying that they wanted him on their team. The banter was jovial, and the boy was beaming. It was at these Games that I learned much of the jargon associated with these athletes. Those of us who were ineligible to compete in the Games were referred to at the time as “TABs”. I spent a bit of time trying to decode this acronym. Finally,

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I asked the coach of the US Paralympic Fencing Team what “TAB” stood for. His response. “Temporarily Able-bodied” both made me laugh and consider its truth. One of the thematic T-shirts for sale at the Atlanta Paralympics had in large bold lettering the slogan, “WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?” I purchased several!

3.5 The Aw Effect-Putting Hands-On Fencers While working with the Atlanta Paralympic athletes in 1996, I attempted to observe and interpret the various treatments these athletes received from the diversity of people present at the Games. Three behavioral categories came to my mind. The treatment was as varied as life would expect, but as in life, some were done with tacit feelings of superiority and a lack of awareness of the environment and people, some were done with attempts at caring from a position of ignorance, and others approached with knowledge and awareness. As I wished to participate in the Paralympic world for many years, I leaned towards the latter and attempted to discover remedies for the first two. Discussions with people in wheelchairs have led me to understand that the people in the first two categories above tend to interact with those in chairs very differently than they would with able-bodied people. Many of the fencing referees who work the wheelchair events are also high-level Federation Internationale d’Escrime (FIE—The governing body for Olympic Fencing), referees. No FIE referee would ever consider putting their hands on an Olympic athlete, but some of the same referees, when they are working with an athlete in a chair, do not hesitate to use their hands. What is the difference? In discussions with these referees and the seated athletes, it has become clear that subconsciously the referees see these people who they must look down on (as the athletes are seated while the referee is standing), as child-like or in constant need of assistance. Christopher Farren, the current chair of the IWAS Referee Commission, has continued employing a directive I initiated during my term as chair: “If you need to touch the athlete, ask for permission first”.

3.6 Off to the Competition: Obstacles Galore The journey in learning how one’s personal assumptions and bias influence treatment of athletes seems never-ending. This became clear when the athletes went to compete in their events.

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3.6.1 Getting There: Flying In my discussions with Leo Curtis, a former U. S. Paralympic fencer (Injured by an IED in Afghanistan) and current IWAS referee, he enumerated the seemingly countless hurdles wheelchair athletes (and referees) encounter. He began his list with flying to an event. Leo’s opening remark to me was, “Getting on the plane can be a nightmare, because the way they load us. They put us in these small chairs and TRY not to run us into the walls and seats getting our seat. I have had my leg fractured being run into the bulkhead of the plane”. Complicating the seating further is the use of the bathroom. There are no aisle chairs available in-flight, so someone must find a way to transport the athlete to, into, and from the bathroom. Flight attendants are not typically equipped with the knowledge to assist these athletes. If the athlete has the strength of someone like Curtis Lovejoy, then proximity to the bathroom is all that is needed. But in general, the airlines are not prepared for wheelchair using athletes. Getting off the plane and potentially making connections are the next obstacles. Those who need aisle chairs to deplane, must wait until all the other passengers have left the aircraft. Then, the aisle crew staff and the other airport transportation group can assist the athletes. Leo reported to me that he has had to wait as long as 25 min after others have deplaned before he was helped off the plane. This has caused him to miss connections. As a result, he now tries to have a minimum of 90 min between flights—no easy task. Leo continued, “Trying to get from the airport is also very hard. I have had to wait hours for a taxi or Uber capable of handling a wheelchair to be able to pick me up. Just recently, Sean Shumate [sic: Sean is another wheelchair user who is an IWAS referee] and I waited over 2 h for the hired transportation company. They never showed, so we had to get another company, and it took them 45 min to get an accessible van. We did not get to the hotel till almost 3:15 AM”. These transportation issues are not uncommon, and reflect the shortsightedness of the organizers of paralympic events.

3.6.2 Staying: The Hotel ADA rooms in hotels are generally low in number. Those rooms labeled as ADA rooms do not necessarily meet the needs of all the varied wheelchair athletes. If a paralympic event is taking place in the hotel, as is generally the case with Paralympic Fencing events, seldom are there sufficient rooms to accommodate the numbers of participants who would require these rooms. Leo Curtis related to me one his experiences with this issue. “There was one time that there were no ADA rooms to move me to, and I had to sleep on the chaise lounge for 5 nights and take sponge baths, because I could not use the bathroom in my room which also meant I had to go down to the lobby to use the bathroom”. Even with ADA rooms, the plight of wheelchair athletes remains rife with problems. Many times, ADA qualified rooms have bathroom doors that are too narrow for

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wheelchair users to enter through. If, like Curtis Lovejoy, the athlete is able to walk at all, then this issue is diminished. But, like Leo Curtis’s experience above, many times showers and toilets become unusable. Below is a picture I took illustrating the wheelbase of Sean Shumate’s chair.

Wheelbase of a wheelchair. Photograph by Jonathan Moss

The chair has a 28-inch wheelbase. In order for Sean to maneuver his chair through any door, he requires a minimum spacing of 36 inches, as he must push his wheels thereby leaving his elbows out beyond the edges of the wheels. Ironically, this became an issue for Sean at international fencing competition held in Sao Paolo, Brazil in October 2022. The competition venue was at the Centro De Treinamento Paralímpico Brasileiro. This facility was designed for Paralympic and blind athletes (More on this later). The hotel assigned to the referees for the competition, was about a 30-min drive from the venue. Unfortunately for Sean, none of the rooms were accessible enough that he and his chair could fit through the doors into and within the room. As a result, he was given a room at the Paralympic Center away from all of his companions—total isolation. What other hotel obstacles might arise? Here Leo Curtis relates a recent experience at a hotel. “The bed was about 8 inches too high for me to get into. Transferring from the chair onto the bed became a seriously daunting task. We worked with the hotel, and they removed the box spring from the bed. Unfortunately, the bathroom door opening was too narrow, but the hotel staff removed the door so I could use the bathroom. If I travel with my son, Tyler, the issue of bed height is reduced, because he is able to help me. However, if I am flying places, including him means dramatically greater expenses.” By way of contrast, I recently stayed in the Washington-Duke Inn on the Duke University campus. The room I was in, and apparently there are many like this one in that hotel, was set up for wheelchair users. The doorways to the room and the bathroom are three feet wide. The pathways between furniture and walls are at least three feet wide. The bed height is ideal for transferring from a wheelchair. Then there is the bathroom itself. Grab bars for transferring to toilets and to a built-in retractable shower chair are easily accessed. The shower facility allows for the user to easily

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roll into the space and transfer to the shower seat. And, of course, the shower head is on a flexible hose for ease of use. This room is ideal. The only mistake the hotel made was putting me, a non-wheelchair user, in that room. Generally, Paralympic events require that most of the athletes’ meals be included in their entries, and those meals are to be supplied at the hotel and the venue. This long establish procedure was enacted, because of the difficulties with transportation. Access to food in some locations can be an issue as Sean Shumate points out, “Dining stations, at buffets, are not always at safe heights to safely prepare plates for consumption”.

3.6.3 Dehumanizing Transportation Treatment The Paralympic Center in Sao Paolo is an amazing place which I will discuss a bit later. But even a place like that has planning problems. The Center hosted an IWAS Paralympic Fencing World Cup in 2021. All the non-local teams, officials and dignitaries flew into São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport, about 1–1½ hour drive to the center (Note: not the host hotel). Transportation for the equipment, including competition chairs, was handled smoothly and well as large vans took that concern away. Transportation for people was not quite as efficient. The Center had committed its own vans to another event away from the Center. As a result, there were no vehicles with lifts for those athletes/referees who used wheelchairs away from competitions. These people had to be physically lifted into seats on the bus. Those of us who are temporarily able-bodied never have to endure this level violation of personal space. At the Center, similar manhandling occurred. Many of the teams had made transportation arrangements for travel between the Center and their hotels, but the organizers and the Center did not prepare for referees in wheelchairs. By contrast, many European countries have busses with lifts, spaces for wheelchairs to be secured, and the ability to lower the bus to a level even with the curb. Sean Shumate is approximately 6 feet 5 inches tall. He is a very large man who as a Paralympian has maintained his upper body strength through workouts. In order to transport Sean between the Center and the hotel housing the referees and back to the Center, three people had to manhandle him onto the referee van twice every day. The event was held over 4 days, so this violation of personal space took place over five days—TEN TIMES! The other referees (his friends) were both horrified and at a loss as how to alleviate the dehumanization. As mentioned above, in October 2022, Sean stayed in the dorms at the Center. This alleviated the manhandling, but then created isolation for him—more dehumanization.

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3.7 Competition Preparation Organizers of any large gathering have monumental tasks before them: (1) what are the minimum space dimensions required for the event?, (2) What will a beneficial floor plan look like?, (3) What will the flow of people entail? and more. A wheelchair event organizer must answer the same questions, but must realize that there will be many wheelchairs moving throughout the venue (e.g. competing athletes, their teammates, and spectators). If we begin by examining the aisle space required for an efficient flow of traffic as well as locations for spectators possibly in those aisles as is the case with Paralympic fencing, event planners have an even larger task. Below is a photograph of the aisle between competition spaces that was also planned for spectators at a

Aisle at the World Cup. Photograph by Jonathan Moss

2023 IWAS World Cup fencing event outside of Washington DC. Seating for spectators looking to the right while others would sit and look to the left in this aisle left very little space for wheelchairs to pass through. And, if people in wheelchairs needed to pass in opposing directions, clearly a traffic jam would occur. At this particular event, ample aisle was available, but the planning omitted considering the flow of wheelchairs along with the TABs. Planning the flow must include the movement of the athletes to their competition spaces. In fencing these are referred to as frames. Because great athletes attract spectators, at a minimum it is critical that the semifinals and the finals of competitions be held where spectators have excellent sight lines. For fencing, this requires that these bouts be held on a raised platform. (see photograph below).

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Finals platform at the DC World Cup 2023. Photograph by Jonathan Moss

So, if the semifinals and finals are to be held on a raised platform, how are the athletes going to get to the frames? On the far left in the photograph above, there is a small portion in green answering that question. The organizers built a ramp. A ramp is the obvious choice, so that the athletes can wheel up to their frames. However, in the case of this Washington DC World Cup (and many others like this one), the slope of the ramp is daunting. Wheelchair ramps for businesses and homes have very specific codes they must follow. The ADA’s maximum slope requirement of a ramp is a ratio of rise to length of 1:12. Therefore in the drawing below, if the rise is 2 feet, the length of the ramp would need to be at least 24 feet (Access Board, 2023).

If we go back to the Finals photograph, that green portion on the left is the end of the ramp as it arrives at the top of the rise. Below is a photograph of that ramp’s counterpart on the other side of the finals’ platform (Note: both have approximately the same ratio of rise to length). The ratio here is far steeper than the ADA requirement of 1:12. In fact it is approximately 1:3.

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Finals ramp at the DC World Cup 2023. Photograph by Jonathan Moss

Some may be more familiar with the idea of percent grade. Grades in the Tour de France that are considered very difficult for professional cyclists range from 12 to 18% (Yost, 2017). To calculate the percent grade, the measure of the rise is divided by the measure of the length, and the result is multiplied by 100. The ADA rise versus length ration to be no steeper than 1:12. That translates into 8.3% grade. This means that people in wheelchairs should not have to struggle any more than on an 8.3% grade slope. The final’s ramp is approximately a 33% grade. The Tour de France would never ask its cyclists to ascend 33%, nor do any roads approach that steepness. As a result of this 33% grade ramp, one (or many times two) very strong person has to push the chair athlete up the ramp, thus reducing that athlete’s independence (Arch Toolbox, 2022).

3.8 Attempts at Integration Since 2006, there have been four Wheelchair Fencing World Championships that were held in the same venue at the same time as the FIE World Championships. It is not clear what the motivations were to have these events nominally together— perhaps finances, space allocation, a desire to merge the two governing bodies. While on the surface, it appears that these events should align with the idea of integration of the FIE fencers with the IWAS fencers, the actual effects were much different. In all four cases, the preliminary rounds and elimination matches for the wheelchair athletes were held far away from the FIE similar matches. In fact, to my knowledge

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(I was present at all four of these) no FIE fencer, coach or spectator came to see the wheelchair fencers in action. In Torino, Italy in 2006 the first attempt at simultaneous World Championships, the wheelchair fencing events were far away from the main attraction and no wheelchair events were showcased on the main stage where the TABs were competing. On one particular day, Ivan Lee, the first man of African American descent to win a world fencing championship, a member of the 2004 U.S Olympic Team, as well as a two-time gold medalist at the Pan American Games, happened to be walking by a semifinals match in Men’s Wheelchair Category A Sabre, Ivan’s weapon of choice. I have been friends with Ivan since he began fencing, so I called him over. The two men in the semifinals were both former world champions and multiple time Paralympic medalists, Stephan Makowski from Poland and Cyril More from France. I asked Ivan to watch. The very first action that Ivan saw made him exclaim, “Unbelievable! I couldn’t possibly do that!” In my experience, this response is very common when TAB fencers watch wheelchair fencing. To Ivan’s credit, he came and watched many more events even bringing some of his teammates along to see the greatness (Lee, 2022). If this were the norm, perhaps having the two events together would be great. Unfortunately, integration is not the norm by any means. In each World Championship save one, no wheelchair match was ever showcased on the main stage. In reality, it felt, to me and many of the athletes, that the wheelchair events were just a side show. The one event that made a valiant attempt at integrating the two events was the 2010 World Championships in Paris, France. The semifinals and finals of every wheelchair event were held on the main stage of the Grand Palais in front of as many as 20,000 people. Each event was held with the corresponding FIE event making it evident that at least the medal rounds had similar importance. The preliminary rounds found the wheelchair fencers far away from the crowds. Modeling this Paris event, and adding the integration of the preliminary events with the FIE fencing would certainly achieve level field. Unfortunately, this unification has yet to be achieved. More recent Wheelchair World Championships have been separated completely from the FIE World Championships, and the number of spectators has been greater than with the combined events.

3.9 When It’s Done Right Earlier I introduced the Paralympic Center in Sao Paolo, Brazil—Centro de Treinamento Paralimpico Brasileiro. The facility was built in 2016 with “The goal to develop initiatives that help to massify Paralympic sport in Brazil and assist in the inclusion of people with disabilities in our society.” The Brazilian Paralympic Training Center has indoor and outdoor sports facilities that serve for training, competitions and exchanges of athletes and teams in 17 Paralympic sports: athletics, basketball, fencing, rugby and wheelchair tennis, bocce, swimming, football 5 (for the blind), football 7 (for cerebral paralyzed), goalball, weightlifting, judo, parabadminton,

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Clearly, this facility was designed with wheelchairs and the blind in mind first before the TABs. I have been in four buildings on the campus, and to my knowledge there are only two sets of stairs with only three risers each hidden away in the corners of one of the competition gyms. The corridors are wide and sloped when there is a need to ascend/descend. The floors also have textured flooring for blind athletes. Even the emergency egress from the upper floors of one of the buildings has a parking garage approach that has tempted many wheelchair athletes to zoom down on. The Brazillian Paralympic Center demonstrates that creating the ideal environment for disabled athletes, and non-athletes, does not appear to be difficult. Retrofitting spaces and buildings can be problematic, but as the Washington-Duke Inn has shown, it is possible. Planning, foresight, and caring can lead to an accessible world for us all.

3.10 Conclusion Every country I have visited with the Paralympians, as demonstrated above, treats those in wheelchairs with incredible inconsistency. Even Paralympic Centers in some countries have no idea how to assist those in wheelchairs at a human level. Some countries have established policies that accommodates those in wheelchairs to near perfection. Most of the less than positive interactions occur because of ignorance and assumptions (much like so many biases). The most successful interactions are those that require input from the athlete/referee in chairs.

References Arch Toolbox. (2022). Calculating slope. www.archtoolbox.com/calculating-slope/ Comite Paralimpico Brasilerio. (2022). Paralympic competition. https://www.cpb.org.br/ International Paralympic Committee. (2022a). Paralympic history. www.paralympic.org/ipc/history International Paralympic Committee. (2022b). Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. www.paralympic. org/tokyo-2020/about International Paralympic Committee. (2022c). Beijing 2022c Paralympic Winter Games. www.par alympic.org/beijing-2022/about International Paralympic Committee. (2022d). IPC classification. www.paralympic.org/classific ation Lee, I. (2022). Women’s fencing. Long Island University Athletics. www.liuathletics.com/sports/ womens-fencing/roster/coaches/ivan-lee/36 Lovejoy, C. (2018). Just a little love & joy: From tragedy to triumph, this is the story of one of America’s greatest Paralympians. T&J Publishers. Shepherd Center. (2023). History and mission of the James Shepherd story. https://www.shepherd. org/about/history-and-mission

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US Access Board. (2023). Guide to the ADA accessibility standards: Ramps and curb ramps. www. access-board.gov/ada/guides/chapter-4-ramps-and-curb-ramps/#slope-and-cross-slope Yost, W. (2017). The 10 toughest climbs of the 2017 Tour de France. Bicycling. www.bicycling. com/racing/a20046569/the-10-toughest-climbs-of-the-2017-tour-de-france/

Chapter 4

The Era of Globalization and the Impact of Sports as a Human Right: A Sociocultural Dimension José Noronha Rodrigues, Sumanta Bhattacharya, and Dora Cristina Ribeiro Cabete

Abstract The rapid rise of industrial civilization, capital, leisure, liberal democracies, and mass media all contribute to sports’ globalization and cultural pervasiveness. Athletics is a social institution that connects people from diverse backgrounds together. It also promotes personal growth by teaching self-control, tenacity, and teamwork. Sports assist the economy and health by keeping individuals healthy and competitive. Recognizing sports as a human right aims to abolish athlete and female athlete bias. Human rights are violated when sports organisations do not give equal opportunities to men and women. The link between sports and human rights has been poorly stated despite its physical, emotional, social, and financial impacts. This article outlines future research and policy directions in the 21st-century educational landscape and its impact on civil liberties, athletics, and the arts. This research uses a multi-theoretical framework to examine sports and human rights. If the sports business protects human rights, it might change the game. Sports can teach about human rights and change people’s worldviews. Possible results include sustainable growth, peace, solidarity, non-discrimination, social inclusion, diversity, morality, and respect. Sports strengthens culture, health, participation and pedagogical rights as it promotes gender equality and embraces all people, affecting/promoting human rights. Sports may be used efficiently and cheaply to promote peace, making them a key instrument for accomplishing sustainable development goals. Both the MDGs and SDGs recognize sports’ ability to support them. Sports have propagated the message of peace and development by empowering women and youth, community health, and social inclusion. We need sports laws, to promote gender equality, and prevent gender, caste, and race discrimination. Sports unite people from different sociocultural backgrounds.

J. N. Rodrigues (B) · D. C. R. Cabete University of the Azores, Azores, Portugal e-mail: [email protected] S. Bhattacharya Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, Kolkata, India © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing (eds.), Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_4

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Keywords Human rights · Culture · Health · Globalization · Gender · Social justice · Sports

4.1 Introduction One of the few industries that can truly unite and motivate the entire global population is the sports industry. In fact, Nelson Mandela mentioned at the first Laureus World Sports Award “sports has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination. The heroes standing with me are examples of this power. They are valiant not only on the playing field but also in the community, both local and international. They are champions and they deserve the world’s recognition” (Mandela, 2000). Thus, sports encompass a wide variety of physical actions and techniques used by two competing teams to captivate spectators. Sports is now important because it improves people’s mental and physical wellbeing and fosters stronger community ties. There is no better advocate for human rights than the world of sports. Human rights are those that properly belong to every human worldwide without exception. Moreover, as argued by Veal “participation in sport is recognized as a human right in numerous internationally ratified declarations and treaties, in particular in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its associated legal covenants. In [United Nations] UN documents, sports participation is a component of “participation in the cultural life of the community”, however, culture, and hence sport participation is not included among the “core six” ESC rights in the UN system” (Veal, 2022, p. 15). As a matter of fact, the right to culture, the right to health, the right to participation, and the right to education are all bolstered by sports, making them an integral aspect of the concept of human rights. It affects human rights because it promotes the acceptance of people with various talents, backgrounds, and cultures, as well as because it serves to advance the cause of gender equality. As a proven and lowcost means of advancing peace goals, sports are an important enabler of sustainable development. The importance of sports in advancing the Millenium Development Goals (ODM) e da Sustainable Development Goals (SDGA) is reaffirmed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Bhimarajka, 2021). Indeed, the United Nations’17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to achieve decent lives for all on a healthy planet by 2030. In this context, “Goal 5: Gender Equality” refers to “[empowering] women and girls to take control of their bodies and lives is crucial for solving our biggest social and environmental crises. Gender inequality is one of the main drivers of high fertility rates. Not a single country has yet achieved full equality, and the worst gender-based injustices and crimes continue to be common and widespread. According to the UN, ending genderbased violence, harmful practices (including child marriage and FGM), preventable

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maternal deaths, and unmet family planning needs is affordable and within reach, but still suffers from a severe funding shortage. In the meantime, the number of women and girls subjected to harmful practices is increasing due to slow progress and population growth” (Population Matters, 2022). On the other hand, it should be noted that the resolution passed by the United Nations Human Rights Council included a section on using sports as a tool to advance human rights. Incidentally, the International Day of Sport in the Service of Development and Peace is celebrated on 6 April, a date proclaimed through Resolution 67/296 adopted at the United Nations General Assembly on 23 August 2013. “The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 48/10 of 25 October 1993, in which it proclaimed 1994 the International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal, 48/11 of 25 October 1993 on the observance of the Olympic Truce, 49/29 of 7 December 1994 and 50/13 of 7 November 1995 on the Olympic Ideal, and its resolutions 52/21 of 25 November 1997, 54/34 of 24 November 1999, 56/75 of 11 December 2001, 58/6 of 3 November 2003, 60/8 of 3 November 2005, 62/4 of 31 October 2007, 64/4 of 19 October 2009 and 66/5 of 17 October 2011 on building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal, Recalling also its resolutions on sport as a means to promote education, health, development, and peace, in particular resolution 58/5 of 3 November 2003, in which it proclaimed 2005 the International Year for Sport and Physical Education, and resolutions 59/10 of 27 October 2004, 60/9 of 3 November 2005, 61/10 of 3 November 2006, 62/271 of 23 July 2008, 63/135 of 11 December 2008, 65/4 of 18 October 2010 and 67/17 of 28 November 2012, Reaffirming its resolutions 60/1 of 16 September 2005, containing the 2005 World Summit Outcome, in which it recognized the potential of sport to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, underlining that sports can foster peace and development and can contribute to an atmosphere of tolerance and understanding, 65/1 of 22 September 2010, entitled “Keeping the promise: united to achieve the Millennium Development Goals”, in which it recognized that sport, as a tool for education, development, and peace, can promote cooperation, solidarity, tolerance, understanding, social inclusion and health at the local, national and international levels, and 66/2 of 19 September 2011, containing the political declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, in which it promoted healthy lifestyles, in particular through physical activity” (Resolution adopted by the General Assembly, 2013). In other words, in practice this resolution affirms that sports can be used to promote social incorporation and advancement; wellness, schooling, harmony, and enhancing public learning; empowering women; preventive diplomacy and peacemaking; preventing drug abuse and other diseases; and promoting all the well of people with disabilities (PWD), and it urges states to collaborate the efforts of various committees to use sports to promote peace, development, reconciliation, dialogue, and the well-being of PWD. Therefore, a group of specialists was formed to explore

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the potential for the Olympic spirit and physical competition to be utilized to advance human rights. The following are examples of human rights conventions that concern sports: a. Charter of the Olympic Games In 1908, a French aristocrat who would later become president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the man widely credited with creating the modern Olympic movement penned the document now known as the Olympic Charter. “[what] is now known as the Olympic Charter was first codified in 1908, fourteen years after the modern Olympic Games it governs were first established in Paris on June 23, 1894. According to the IOC, it was written by then-IOC president and founder of the modern Olympic Movement and French aristocrat, Pierre de Coubertin, who may have written a version as early as 1898. When it was first published, the Charter was titled the “Annuaire du Comité International Olympique,” or “International Olympic Committee Yearbook.” A yearbook? In fact, what is now recognized as the Olympic Charter was published, updated, altered, and reissued frequently (not annually, but often, and generally prior to an Olympiad) throughout the twentieth century. At times it served as a yearbook, documenting the Olympic Movement’s history and Courbetin’s legacy, including his photo, as much as it organized and governed the Games. The formal title of “Olympic Charter” was adopted in 1978. In calling the Olympic Charter a “charter,” the IOC acknowledged a distinctive aspect of its origins: a “charter” is a grant from a legislative power that creates and defines an institution. The Olympic Charter is conferred by the Swiss Federal Council, the executive legislative body of the government of Switzerland. Lausanne, Switzerland has served as the home of the IOC since 1915” (ABA, 2018). In this document we can read the following: “[the] Olympic Charter (OC) is the codification of the Fundamental Principles of Olympism, Rules, and Byelaws adopted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It governs the organization, action, and operation of the Olympic Movement and sets forth the conditions for the celebration of the Olympic Games. In essence, the Olympic Charter serves three main purposes: (a) The Olympic Charter, as a basic instrument of a constitutional nature, sets forth and recalls the Fundamental Principles and essential values of Olympism. (b) The Olympic Charter also serves as a statute for the International Olympic Committee. (c) In addition, the Olympic Charter defines the main reciprocal rights and obligations of the three main constituents of the Olympic Movement, namely the International Olympic Committee, the International Federations, and the National Olympic Committees, as well as the Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games, all of which are required to comply with the Olympic Charter” (Olympic Charter, 2021). It was established by the Swiss Federal Council, the country’s legislative and executive branches. The constitution is a set of regulations, fundamental concepts, and bylaws that govern the operations of the International Olympic Committee and its affiliated bodies. The Olympic Charter is divided into a prologue, seven

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fundamental principles,1 and six chapters: “1—The Olympic Movement; 2— The International Olympic Committee (IOC); 3—The International Federations (IFs); 4—The National Olympic Committees (NOCs); 5—The Olympic Games; 6—Measures and Sanctions, Disciplinary Procedures and Dispute Resolution” (Olympic Charter, 2021, pp. 11–108). The Fundamental Principles establish the value of sports within the context of society, culture, and humanity, establishing sports as a basic human right. b. The UNESCO International Charter for Physical Education, Physical Activity, and Sport The International Charter for Sports Science, Physical Exercise, and Sport was adopted during the 38th Session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on November 18, 2015. This agreement replaces the International Charter for Physical Education and Sport from 1978. Essentially, this Charter emphasizes the following: 3. Convinced that a condition for the exercise of human rights is the safety and freedom of every human being to develop and preserve their physical, psychological, and social well-being and capabilities. 4. Emphasizing that resources, authority, and responsibility for physical education, physical activity, and sport must be allocated without discrimination 1

Fundamental Principles of Olympism:

a. Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining the qualities of body, will, and mind in a balanced whole. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of a good example, social responsibility, and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles. b. The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity. c. The Olympic Movement is the concerted, organized, universal and permanent action, carried out under the supreme authority of the IOC, of all individuals and entities who are inspired by the values of Olympism. It covers the five continents. It reaches its peak with the bringing together of the world’s athletes at the great sports festival, the Olympic Games. Its symbol is five interlaced rings. d. The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must be able to practice sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity, and fair play. e. Recognising that sport occurs within the framework of society, sports organizations within the Olympic Movement shall apply political neutrality. They have the rights and obligations of autonomy, which include freely establishing and controlling the rules of the sport, determining the structure and governance of their organizations, enjoying the right of elections free from any outside influence, and the responsibility for ensuring that principles of good governance be applied. f. The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, color, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or another opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or another status. g. Belonging to the Olympic Movement requires compliance with the Olympic Charter and recognition by the IOC.

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5.

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based on gender, age, disability, or any other basis, to overcome the exclusion experienced by vulnerable or marginalized groups. Acknowledging that cultural diversity in physical education, physical activity, and sport forms part of humanity’s intangible heritage and includes physical play, recreation, dance, organized, casual, competitive, traditional, and indigenous sports and games; Recognizing that physical education, physical activity, and sport can bring a variety of individual and societal benefits, such as health, social and economic development, youth empowerment, reconciliation, and peace. Highlighting that the provision of quality physical education, physical activity, and sport is essential, to realize their full potential to promote values such as fair play, equality, honesty, excellence, commitment, courage, teamwork, respect for rules and laws, respect for self and others, community spirit and solidarity, as well as fun and enjoyment. Stressing that to achieve quality physical education, physical activity, and sport, all personnel, professional and volunteer alike, must have access to suitable training, supervision, and counseling. Underlining that early play experience with parents and carers, and participation in quality physical education are essential entry points for children to learn the skills, attitudes, values, knowledge, understanding, and enjoyment necessary for lifelong participation in physical activity, sport, and in society at large. Emphasizing that physical education, physical activity, and sport should seek to promote stronger bonds between people, solidarity, mutual respect and understanding, and respect for the integrity and dignity of every human being; Insisting that concerted action and cooperation between stakeholders at all levels is the prerequisite for protecting the integrity and potential benefits of physical education, physical activity, and sport from discrimination, racism, homophobia, bullying, doping, manipulation, excessive training of children, sexual exploitation, trafficking, as well as violence; Aware that physical education, physical activity, and sport can be enriched by undertaking them responsibly in a natural environment, and that this inspires respect for the Planet’s resources and a concern to conserve and use these resources for the greater good of humanity. Proclaims this International Charter that puts physical education, physical activity, and sport at the service of human development, and urges everyone, especially governments, intergovernmental organizations, sports organizations, non-governmental entities, the business community, the media, educators, researchers, sports professionals and volunteers, participants and their support personnel, referees, families, as well as spectators to commit to and disseminate this Charter, so that its principles can become a reality

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for all human beings (International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport, 2015, pp. 1–2) The importance of this Charter is indisputable for the consecration of physical activity as a human right. Indeed, as several authors state, Messing, Krennerich, Abu-Omar, Fischl, and Gelius “[while] the public health benefits of physical activity are undisputed, up to now no clear understanding has emerged as to whether physical activity represents a human right. Arguably the most specific document on this issue is the International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport adopted in 2015 by UNESCO’s General Conference. Based on an earlier UNESCO document from 1978, the charter declares that every human being has the fundamental right to access physical education, physical activity, and sport. The World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan on Physical Activity refers to this charter and states that a human rights-based approach should be a guiding principle for countries during the implementation of the action plan. In addition, the Special Rapporteur on the right to health has emphasized the obligation of states “to reduce the extent to which individuals adopt unhealthy or risky lifestyles,” including physical inactivity, a position that has also been supported by the United Nations General Assembly. Besides these documents, however, the idea of physical activity as a fundamental right has, to our knowledge, not been reflected on in other major international human rights documents or the academic literature on human rights so far” (Messing et al., 2021, p. 201). Indeed, a major achievement for the movement was the inclusion of “the practice of sports and physical is a fundamental right for all” in the initial charter, the first rights-based document. This charter emphasizes the advantages of physical activity and sports for all people and the need to defend the authenticity of sports from aggression, fraud, deception, doping, and breaches of human rights. c. UNITAR’s Department of Sport for Development and Peace Established in 2001 at UN Headquarters in Geneva, the UN Office on Sports for Development and Peace works to promote the positive social and political effects of sports worldwide. In 2013, the 6th of April was established as the International Day of Sport in the Service of Development and Peace. In other words, this agency has as its: “a) mission, to promote sport as a vehicle for development and peace, contributing to the construction of a more socially just and equitable world”; b) objectives: i) To promote projects and technical assistance services where sport and Olympic values are used as tools at the service of development, peace and social change; ii) To promote knowledge production and teaching on sport at the service of development, peace and social change; iii) To create and strengthen networks/partnerships to deepen knowledge on sport as a promoter of development, peace and social change; iv) To promote the transfer of knowledge, skills and resources in the field of sport at the service of development, peace and social change; v) To promote capacity development in the field of sport at the service of development, peace and social change; c) Values: (i) Global citizenship; (ii) Multidisciplinarity; (iii) Interculturality; (iv)

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Solidarity; (v) Excellence; (vi) Friendship; (vii) Respect” (Sport for Development Center, 2022). In fact, the primary goal of this agency is to promote the sport in a unified and methodical manner so that it can serve as a vehicle for the promotion of growth and peace. It has used a variety of methods to encourage young people to get involved in the sport and help it grow. Child and youth education are also bolstered by this, so the document also addresses the protection of human rights in sports. It has suggested that countries adopt legislation and international standards to educate young people, parents, and coaches to avoid and address human rights violations and abuses in sports. This plan encouraged individuals to treat one another without bias, and it also pushed for more equitable sports systems. The public will be better equipped to prevent violations of human rights and abuse if they are educated about the risks, rights, and reporting options for victims of abuse in sports. d. Europe’s Council on Collaborative Action The Council of Europe, established in 1949, has 47 member nations with a combined population of around 820 million people, making it the largest active entity dedicated to protecting the human rights of young people and athletes. It was established to advance the value of sportsmanship as a driver of social progress, and it monitors member nations to make sure the governments are applying the charter’s requirements in line with the Code of Sports Ethics. Europe’s countries that value democracy, human rights, and liberties, as well as those who are committed to upholding the rule of law, are welcome to apply for membership in the organization. It aids in making it possible for everyone to take part in sports and guarantees that everyone will have access to quality physical education and fundamental sports training (Fig. 4.1).

4.2 Child’s Sports and Human Rights Both the right to be heard and the right to be safe from harm is guaranteed to all children under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Indeed, Article 2 (2) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates the following “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment based on the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child’s parents, legal guardians, or family members” (United Nations, 1989). In recent years, there have been several changes in how sports organizations safeguard youngsters. This cannot be said about efforts to increase children’s voices. An increasing number of athletes have gone public in recent years to address a wide range of human rights issues, including racism and homophobia, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse by coaches, and the ability of athletes to peacefully protest at the Olympics. Furthermore, in 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) advocated enhancing athletes’ rights as a priority agenda

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Mental Health

End of violence , crimes

No grambling

Sports and Human rights

Sports education

Gender equality

No discrimination on caste , race based

Health insurance Right to food and nutrition access based on blood group

Fig. 4.1 Sports and human rights

item for the next five years. Collectively, the past several years have been pivotal for the advancement of human rights in the sporting arena (Lang, 2022, p. 41). Coaches, athletes, mentors, parents, and administrators are all at risk for and may be the targets of violence in sports. Because of their immaturity, susceptibility, and age, children are more susceptible to the effects of violence. This is true both from the standpoint of children and, to a lesser extent, from the perspective of coaches as the primary perpetrators of violence toward children. Coaches have a significant degree of influence over young people due to several factors, including their age, education, wealth, authority, control, influence, and, most importantly, their ability to “make or break” an athlete in a performance-oriented sports culture. The worldwide problem of violence towards athletes stems from our culture’s fixation on success and the “win at all costs” mentality. In this society, children are especially vulnerable since they are taught to fear adults and accept violence as normal (Aine et al., 2022, pp. 93–94).

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In the field of sports, there is huge discrimination faced by youth, children have the right to practice sports in a healthy environment, but today we are seeing a rise in crimes against children, for instance at least 23 teenage male footballers at Chelsea FC in England have come forward alleging that they were victims of sexual abuse as children (Foster, 2019). In 2016, a case involving sexual abuse by a team physician over a period of decades came to light, affecting more than 265 female US gymnasts, most of whom were juveniles at the time of perpetration. The ongoing nature of this case has caused the worldwide sports legal and sports governance community to question its own commitment to, protection of, and involvement in a sports environment in which such crimes could have been hidden for so long despite repeated efforts by the athletes themselves. Over 600 convictions for sexual abuse of minors by at least 222 amateur sports coaches in 36 sports in Canada over the past two decades were revealed by an investigation (Foster, 2019). It seems that no country or sport is safe from these attacks on human dignity and physical and psychological integrity. And, in reality, they are not safe, because, as long as there is no gender equality, a cultural elevation of respect for individual dignity, violations like these will continue to happen, which is why it is essential to denounce these atrocities. To this end, it is essential that these practices are taught in schools as deviant behavior, atrocities against the most basic human rights whose knowledge, perception, and internalization are essential in order to be able to denounce (Fig. 4.2).

Sexual abuse

gender discrimination

Violence Crime against youth in sports

Emotional Abuse

Fig. 4.2 Crimes against youth in the field of sports

restrict access to resource

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4.3 Sociology of Sports, the Role of Sports in a Larger Sociocultural Context Sport, whether at leisure, top competitive, or social level, can be seen as a miniature representation of society. In this context, Günther Lüschen mentions “[sport] is a rational, playful activity in interaction, which is extrinsically rewarded. The more it is rewarded, the more it tends to work; the less, the more it tends to play. If we describe it in an active system frame of reference, this activity depends on the organic, personality, social, and cultural systems. By tradition, physical education has tried to explain this action system largely on the grounds of the organic system, sometimes making references to the personality system. Only on rare occasions, it has been approached systematically from the social and cultural systems as well, yet it seems obvious that any action going on in this system is to be explained concerning all of the sub-systems of the action system” (Lüschen, 1967, p. 127). There are parallels between the social problems in mainstream society and those in the sporting world. Values, races, ethnicities, socioeconomic status, gender roles, sexual orientation, age, politics, religion, and the economy are only a few of the societal concerns that manifest through sports. Sport is a microcosm of society, and if we accept the premise that sports teams are reflections of society, then we are forced to confront the same societal problems, such as racism, discrimination, inequality, and homophobia, that are evident in both arenas. The sociology of sports employs both important and competing perspectives, compelling us to investigate several angles from which to analyze the function and structure of sports in our society, as well as the impact of sporting concerns and difficulties on individuals (Foster, 2019). An issue with sociological engagement with sport and culture is that it is difficult to agree on what traits best characterize the objects of study, which is especially challenging given the diversity and fluidity of these fields. Conflicting definitions of sport and culture, as well as differing assessments of their relationship, provide enough room for debate. In broad sociological terms, sports can be understood as the social institution that arose from the rationalization and commercialization of strong game contests beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century (first in Britain), and culture can be defined as the ever-evolving constellation of symbols, signifying practices, and texts that potentially give and meaning to the social world of which sporting events are an increasingly important part (Serra, 2015, pp. 57–89) (Fig. 4.3). The reasons why some sports are popular in one community but not another arise from the study of sports as a social phenomenon. Why do different cultures have such different systems for organizing sports competitions and teams? Is there a relationship between sports and other aspects of society like the home, the church, the school, the state, the marketplace, or the media? To whose benefit do sports have sponsors, and who are they? In conclusion, sport is a significant aspect of culture, and its significance varies from one place and one generation to the next. Different cultures have different ways of conceptualizing and organizing sports and different ways of incorporating sports into daily life. Consequently, sport must be viewed as a product of its social setting if we are to grasp its full complexity. When discussing the

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Gender Race

economy

Caste

Social as a social institute and challenges religion

age

Politics

Fig. 4.3 Sports as a social institute and its challenges

most pressing concerns surrounding sports in modern society, the lens of sociology can be useful since it allows us to see and comprehend sports as a social phenomenon that emerges from a certain historical and cultural milieu. Caste, gender, and creed have played an important role in determining sports culture. The disabled, weaker sectors have been discriminated against and are not allowed to participate in sports. Every country has its own rules and regulation, for instance, some countries welcome women as part of the sporting industry whereas in many countries sports is prohibited for women.

4.4 Gender and Sports Gender has been a major sociological lens in the study of sports since the 1970s. Incidentally, Birrell portrays this phenomenon well in the abstract of her article— Discourses on the gender/sports relationship: from women in sport to gender relations. Therefore, in this article, the following is mentioned: “[in] any developing field such as the one that began as “women in sport,” key developments can be traced through the evolution of the language we use and the concepts we develop to express our new understandings. Thus, the discourse has moved from considerations of sex

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differences and sex roles to gender differences and gender roles to the sex/gender system, and finally to patriarchy and gender relations, and we have progressed from seeing gender as a variable or as a distributive category to conceiving of it as a set of relations created through human agency and sustained or reproduced through cultural practices including, but not limited to, sport. At the same time, our understanding of sport has grown from seeing it as a static social institution, defined in terms of its separation from the real world to the comprehension of sport as a social practice produced through human agency and reproduced through ideological work. Finally, our view of gender relations has moved from a focus on sex differences, conceived as relatively innate, to an outraged response to sexism, to a deeper understanding of just how complex and culturally situated the relations of domination and subordination that characterize gender relations in patriarchal cultures. As our consciousness has grown, our questions have changed from “why aren’t more women involved in sports?” to “why are women excluded from sports?” to “what specific social practices accomplish the physical and ideological exclusion of women from sports?”, “how and why have women managed to resist the practices that seek to incorporate them?”, and “how do women work to transform sport into an activity that reflects their own needs as women?” The study of gender relations and sports has come a long way in a short time. In less than 20 years, the field has transformed itself from often angry, always well-intentioned, but generally atheoretical investigations of the patterns of women’s involvement and the psychological factors that kept women from full participation to a theoretically informed, critical analysis of the cultural forces that work to produce the ideological practices that influence the relations of sport and gender. Clearly, the direction for the future lies in the development and application of more critical analyses capable of capturing the complexity of the gender/sport relation” (Birrell, 1988. p. 459). Science has proven without a reasonable doubt that sports are a sexist institution in which boys and men are actively and joyfully encouraged to engage at the expense of girls and women. The administration and coaching of sports are similarly dominated by men, and there are more men than women who participate in organized competitive sports (Gender and Sports, 2022). It has been hypothesized that sports serve as a platform for the promotion of a (heterosexual) masculine identity that prizes physical prowess, aggressiveness, and competition. Sports’ association with stereotypically masculine imagery legitimizes the idea that men are inherently superior while reinforcing the idea that women are inherently inferior since they are defined by their relative passivity, grace, and softness. That’s why it’s common to hear athletics referred to as “men preservation.” The musculature is seen as unfeminine, and women who are strong and influential are often seen as not being “genuine” women. The growing body of research shows that these views are reflected in the growth of media images that promote female heterosexuality at the expense of athletic performance. Media portrayals of female athletes often include sexualized imagery, contributing to the reproduction and perpetuation of idealized depictions of female physicality. Other methods of regulating women’s athletic bodies exist as well. Some authors claim that the very nature of aerobics and bodybuilding serves to reinforce pre-existing gender roles by

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feminizing the physical activities in which women engage and by objectifying and sexualizing women’s bodies. Others believe that the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexism in sports demonstrates how masculinity is built and legitimized using violence, aggression, and force. One arena where gender disparity is glaringly obvious is sports. The root of the issue lies more in its sociopsychological aspects. As we enter a new millennium, it is unacceptable that sex differences continue to be a barrier for women in sports. There are over 2.4 billion women in the world, but only 1.6 billion men. Although women have made strides in recent decades, men continue to enjoy a social and cultural advantage (Gender Issues in Sports, 2015). In terms of sports, India has not yet reached its full potential. India was controlled by the Mughals for centuries, and then by the British for another century and a half. After declaring independence in 1947, it began to grow into a progressive nation, giving equal rights to half of its inhabitants (women). Women in India are still forging their own paths and still lack the confidence to assert their rights. The world has evolved and is getting better, but there is still a long way to go. Men enjoy advantages in all sectors of society. Extreme measures are needed to change the current state of gender disparities, with feticide being the worst possible outcome Men enjoy advantages in every sector of society. In this regard there is an interesting BBC quiz on “[what] do Indians think about women in sport?” and, the results are surprising: “[the] research about attitudes towards women in sports also found a majority speaking in favour of equal pay for female athletes. However, 42% of the respondents felt that women’s sports were not as “entertaining” as men’s. There were also negative perceptions about sportswomen relating to their appearance and childbearing ability. (…) The research showed that as many as 64% of Indian adults did not participate in any kind of sport or physical activity. This figure was even worse when broken down by gender—nearly one and a half times more men (42%) said they played sport than women (29%). However, even this participation has an age skew with sports being played more by 15–24year-old males than any other age and gender grouping. (…) When Indian noys play cricket, football, volleyball, run and cycle, Indian girls do not have such a wide range of choices when it comes to sports. It seems this is dictated, at least in part, by the wider sexism and gender biases that exist in India” (BBC News, 5 March 2020). The whole South Asia is backed by a patriarchal culture that has never allowed women to participate in sports, however in some rural regions, we see a high number of women during physical activities in the form of sports. Bodybuilding has taken on a new position in society for women, and going to the gym has become increasingly common. We also see a significant number of women participating in this activity. Despite the discrimination they face, women in India are actively participating in sports and even representing the country on the international stage (Fig. 4.4).

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Reproductive system adds to the problem Patriarchal society Women are considered less fit then men Sexual abuse Force Motherhood Aggression Fig. 4.4 Challenges faced by women in sports

4.4.1 Gender, Caste, and Creed Human Rights Issue in Sports a Major Issue in India India is home to a wide variety of indigenous and foreign sporting traditions, such as, the Indian government’s Department of Youth Affairs and its counterpart, the Department of Sports, which are under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. To ensure that we can all benefit from this, human rights have been the basis of many new initiatives in the Government of India. The goals of the Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS) and the Rural Sports Program (RSP) are to identify and develop previously unrealized athletic potential in preparation for national and international competitions. Many national awards are given out by the government to promote sports and activities and through its National Service Scheme, the Indian government also tries to link sports and human rights. There are many cultural and sporting events included in national service programs, and these often have some connection or aim to promote human rights. The current situation in India’s sporting arena reflects a considerably diminished level of prejudice based on any reason. However, questions have been made about how the Bharat Ratna (Indian Nation Award) is bestowed on occasion due to gender discrimination or favoring a nominee. There is also some explaining to be done in India after the Olympic performance and there is still more work to be done to answer these questions, but the current state of sport in India implies that this is a promising area to invest time and energy. Sport provides an opportunity to put aside prejudice due to the unwavering support that athletes and coaches receive from the media. In other words, regularly, citizens of this country serve as role models for others, overcoming obstacles related to their caste, creed, gender, religion, region, and/or sport to achieve personal and national success.

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Many International and National organizations are working to end discrimination in the sports sector. It should be noted that this gender inequality in sports is not exclusive to India, but is a recurrent practice in many underdeveloped countries, but in particular in countries where there is an interconnection between sport and religion. Actually, “[sports] and religion are essential tools for development, unity, stability, togetherness and peaceful co-existence among sports men and women as well as spectators i.e. sports lovers” (Jona & Okou, 2013, p. 46). To this end, it is essential that religious principles, regardless of religion, safeguard gender equality between men and women in all fields of society.

4.5 Sports as a Social Institute and Economy of Sports The positive effects of sport on society’s economy and vice-versa are well documented. Governments around the world recognize the importance of sports, with references to “the participation sports make to the equality of women and of young people, and communities, as well as to wellbeing, schooling, and social integration objectives” appearing in the Political Declaration of the 2030 Agenda (UNDP, 2022). Since the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 has spread to virtually every country. Frequent travel bans, school and workplace closures have been implemented to contain the disease, hampering many aspects of daily life, including sports and other types of physical activity. The effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on the athletic world and on people’s capacity to participate in physical activity and preserve their health are discussed in this policy brief. To help get sports events back on track and get people moving again after a pandemic, we give suggestions to governments, and other partners, including the United Nations system (United Nations, 2020). Since gaining its independence, India has hosted several major international athletic events, from the 1982 Asian Games to the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. The world has benefited greatly from India’s abundance of talented athletes. Cricket, one of India’s most popular sports, hockey, wrestling, shooting, chess, badminton, football, golf, Kabaddi, racing, billiards, baseball, boxing, tennis, Formula One, polo and rock climbing are just some of the sports where this phenomenon has been observed. In this regard, the Ministry of Sports of the Indian government has been working hard on expanding the country’s sports infrastructure over the last decade. India still has a way to go in terms of building its infrastructure and other services. Funding of INR 46,360,000,000 was earmarked in the 11th Five Year Plan to help the growth of sports in the country. Since then, India has hosted the Formula One, Hockey and Cricket World Championships as well as the Commonwealth Games. Fifth-four different sports are played around the world, in which participants can play individually or in teams, consequently countries spend a lot of money on sports. Women’s participation in sports has increased over time and there is the emergence of women’s hockey, basketball and cricket teams. The importance of sport to today’s culture and how it encourages a healthy lifestyle is being spread by all and increasingly women are participating in sports such as martial arts, cycling,

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running, baseball, boxing, table tennis, kickboxing, powerlifting, archery, kayaking, and horse riding, although the percentage is very low. However, we are slowly moving towards a progressive society. For example, in South Asia, where women are seen as less physically able than men, investment in sport has increased as more women participate alongside men; in fact, the media also spends a lot of money on sports publications and sportswear from various manufacturers contributes to the economy. For example, India will spend almost $17 billion on sports by 2022. Once again, we must emphasize that the obvious advantages of sport in the economy are not exclusive to India and/or a particular country, sport produces economic, social, and cultural advantages for all countries in the world, so it should be implemented and safeguarded as a fundamental human right.

4.6 Future Perspectives We need a new sports policy that encourages gender equality and puts an end to discrimination based on caste, gender, and race anywhere in the world. Participation in sports coverage is required, a new health insurance program for athletes, including men and women. Medical services must be made available in sports for athletes who sustain major injuries. The right to participate in sports should be granted to people with disabilities. Without any form of discrimination, everyone has the right to participate in sports. In order to encourage physical activity and to ensure that both men and women have an equal opportunity to engage, sports should be made mandatory in all schools and universities. Sports ought to be integrated into the education plan. For mothers and kids to participate, we should encourage distance and online learning for sports degrees. We must encourage motherhood in sports so that women can continue to play and engage even after giving birth. Sports require good dietary management, the provision of sufficient food, and nutrition tailored to each athlete’s blood type. Sportspeople should be given access to bank loans. Instead of hiring coaches from other nations, we should recruit coaches who have won at the national level since doing so will save money, advance national growth, and open doors for coaches. In athletics, we need paradigm shifts. Our bodies and health are impacted by the climate and weather. For instance, in India, those in the Northeast are physically fitter than those in the North. Every athlete should have access to high-quality nutrition for their bodies through a food management system.

4.7 Conclusion The status of sports varies from country to country, and different cultures have a wide variety of traditions when it comes to sporting events. As a social institution, Sports have been subjected to prejudice based on gender, caste, and race, all of which

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are pervasive issues across the globe. The importance of sports as a fundamental human right has recently come to the fore as a direct response to the rise in juvenile delinquency and violent crime. Children are deprived of a significant part of what is considered an absolute necessity, the number of sexual assaults is increasing, gambling is getting worse. Therefore it is time to us to take a stand for the human rights of athletes. To accomplish this goal, we require new laws and regulations related to sports, the requirement of physical education and training in schools and colleges, the promotion of gender equality, and the encouragement of participation in all sports while providing athletes with appropriate nutritional management. At national and international levels, we ought to encourage involvement both on a group and an individual basis and in both forms. The importance of sports to society needs to be emphasized more.

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Chapter 5

Human Rights and Inclusion: Lessons Learned from the #NotNCAAProperty Movement Irene Baker

Abstract There has been a decades-long debate over college sports because the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its member institutions benefit hugely from the labor of unpaid student-athletes. The debate is framed as two choices, keeping the system as is (amateurism) or paying student-athletes their market value. Discussion around both choices has focused on the elite and mostly Black male football and basketball student-athletes. In 2021, a group of elite student-athletes launched a hashtag activism social movement on behalf of all student-athletes that changed the framing of the debate and mobilized the wider student-athlete community and their allies. The #NotNCAAProperty movement demanded that the NCAA no longer require student-athletes to sign away their name, image, and likeness (NIL). The organizers’ reframing of the debate was ideological and strategic. The organizers’ messages focused on fairness and inclusion: student-athletes should be treated the same as other students and loss of NIL was a loss of human rights because it restricted the development, agency, creativity, and humanity of student-athletes. The organizers understood that denying NIL was how amateurism was enforced and that public perception was a factor in support of amateurism. They launched their movement to change the perception of amateurism in order to pressure the NCAA and impact an upcoming supreme court case on student-athletes’ rights. The present study examines this movement and concludes that the forming, framing, and delivery of its messages was a complex and nuanced process based on the expectations, lived experiences, resources, and interactions of the movement’s organizers. Keywords Amateurism · #NotNCAAProperty · College sports · Hashtag activism · Human rights · NCAA · NIL · Social movement · Student-athlete

I. Baker (B) Derry, NH, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing (eds.), Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_5

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5.1 Introduction A discussion on January 30, 2021 on a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Instagram account about the hardships of the Covid-induced isolation on young student-athletes was reported to the nation in an article by Fox news. As reported by Gaydos (2021a), the discussion began when Coach Scott Drew of the Baylor’s men’s basketball posted a comment about the situation that read, “Guys are breaking up with their long-time girlfriends to keep the bubble tight and play games.” Rutgers University men’s basketball player Geo Baker replied to the post with, “And we are still ‘amateurs,’” and then went on to post a follow-up message, “That’s nothing compared to what we bring to our schools. Not even saying schools should pay players. (Which already happens anyway). But Others can create their own business and make money off it so why would an athlete not be allowed to do that?? I have to sign a paper that says my name and likeness belongs to the school. Modern day slavery.” Baker then responded to another poster with: “u realize we are playing in a pandemic being told to stay away from everyone we love just for y’all entertainment but i can’t sell my own jersey with my last name on it to help my future financially. That makes sense to u?”. In his posts, Baker was referring to the name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights waiver that all student-athletes sign (Branch, 2011). Baker was also referring to amateurism, a concept that has no legal standing but that colleges and universities use to glamorize college sports and to justify the oppression and exploitation of student-athletes (Branch, 2011). The NIL waiver is the means by which the NCAA enforces the concept of amateurism (Branch, 2011). As a result, as Baker explained, any student-athlete in any sport in any division, could not make a jersey with their name on it and sell it, or make and sell any other product with their name, image, and likeness on it, regardless of whether they were on scholarship, and regardless of whether the product was connected to sports. Baker revealed later that year in a video posted to his Twitter account (Baker, 2021c) that the example of selling shirts was not hypothetical; in high school he had sold shirts to financially help his mother when she was being treated for cancer. He was asking the obvious question of the NCAA, why should someone in a difficult financial situation in college not be allowed to do that? The next day, after Geo Baker had played in a game between Rutgers University and Northwestern University and was made available to the media afterwards for what would normally be questions about the game, he was asked by a reporter about his use of the phrase ‘Modern day slavery’ in his posts on the previous day (Fonseca, 2021). Fonseca (2021) reported that when Baker responded, he backed off from those specific words, but not his main point, by saying, “I’m disappointed in the words that I used but I think there’s a bigger discussion that needs to be made. The headline was three words that were at the very end of very truthful facts, that we are owned by someone else.” Baker had not known that his posts on a short discussion on an Instagram account that was not his own would go public. But, a month and a half later, Baker again

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posted about NIL on his Twitter account and this time he planned for his words to go public: his post was part of a coordinated event launched from college basketball’s biggest stage, the men’s basketball March Madness tournament. The day before the first game of the tournament was scheduled to tip off, Baker, Jordan Bohannon of the University of Iowa, and Isaiah Livers of the University of Michigan organized and launched a protest on social media criticizing the NCAA for denying studentathletes the use of their names, images, and likenesses (Boren, 2021; Breitman, 2021; Gaydos, 2021b; McCollough, 2021; Wamsley, 2021; Witz & Blinder, 2021). Baker, Bohannon, and Livers were team captains and upperclassmen in universities in the Big Ten Conference (Hawkins, 2020; Hlas, 2020; Schnyderite, 2021). They were well-known both as athletes and for their work in the community and in social movements. Baker had been participating in Rutgers community service initiatives (Rutgers University Athletics, 2021), was a member of the Big Ten AntiHate and Anti-Racism Coalition (Lorincz, 2021), and had been active in social media discussions on social and racial justice (Carino, 2020; Politi, 2020). Bohannon had raised money for a children’s hospital (Ruden, 2019) and had been advocating for student-athlete NIL rights for over a year (Hensley, 2021). Livers had been following Colin Kaepernick’s example and joining with other athletes across the country by kneeling when the national anthem was played prior to basketball games to protest police brutality and racial inequality (Hawkins, 2020). Baker, Bohannon, and Livers were joined in their protest by dozens of other players participating in March Madness that represented at least 15 schools (Witz & Blinder, 2021). They were also supported by Ramogi Huma, a former UCLA football player and the executive director of the National College Players Association (NCPA) (Breitman, 2021). The NCPA issued a press release about the social media protest that explained the rationale and goals of the movement. (National College Players Association, 2021). Baker, Bohannon, and Livers were savvy users of social media, so when they launched their protest, they created the hashtag #NotNCAAProperty and linked their social media posts to it (Boren, 2021; Breitman, 2021; McCollough, 2021; Wamsley, 2021; Witz & Blinder, 2021). Additional publicity was brought to the movement when Livers wore a T-shirt with #NotNCAAProperty written on it when University of Michigan team took the court to play (Martinelli, 2021). What motived these elite student-athletes to speak out on behalf of all studentsathletes of all races and all genders in all sports in all divisions? How did the movement unfold from this point? In this chapter, I examine the #NotNCAAProperty movement through the lens of the relevant experiences, actions, and thoughts of Geo Baker, one of the movement’s most visible leaders (Fonseca, 2021; Nalwasky, 2021), which I have access to due to my relationship to Baker as his mother. My role as a participant-observer of the #NotNCAAProperty movement and my relationship with Baker has given me a personal and in-depth experience not only of Baker’s work for this movement, but also of his journey as a student-athlete. I followed the movement’s events and the organizers’ spoken and written words about their aims and strategies, I was one of very few fans allowed to attend March Madness in 2021 because it took place in a Covid bubble, and I had unique opportunities while writing this chapter to ask Baker questions to clarify the organizers’ planning and actions. This method

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of analysis, ethnography, is an important method for studying social movements because it can trace real-time development of a movement in its embedded social contexts and capture details that show the complexity and nuances of how organizers make decisions and decide on strategies as conditions shift (Plows, 2008). In this chapter, I address these questions about the #NotNCAAProperty movement: What was the impetus that caused these three student-athletes to launch the movement? What strategies did they use? What impacts did they hope the movement would have and what impacts did the movement have? Did the movement fall short by not addressing all the relevant issues?

5.2 Background 5.2.1 March Madness In the United Sates, the popularity of college sports rivals that of professional sports, with an estimated 182 million fans worldwide (Dosh, 2021). College men’s basketball is especially popular. March Madness is one of the most anticipated and watched events in sports (Wilco, 2023) as it decides the national champion in college men’s and women’s basketball in Division 1, college sports’ highest division (Augustyn, 2023). On major sports channels during the 2021 March Madness men’s basketball tournament, an average of 16.9 million viewers watched each game (Young, 2021b). The only time March Madness has been canceled since its start in 1939 was in 2020 because of the covid pandemic (Boone, 2020). So, when March Madness was set to resume in 2021, players, fans, networks, and the NCAA were very much looking forward to the event (Young, 2021a). However, because of the still-ongoing Covid pandemic, the 2021 March Madness was unlike any other, with all 67 of its games played in Indiana (NCAA, 2021). The NCAA created a bubble that year, a controlled environment with covid testing for players, coaches and staff, administrators, and officials (Chappell, 2021).

5.2.2 The Student-Athlete Pipeline In the US, sports for children and adolescents is big business. Recent students show that about 55% of children aged 6–17 years participate in sports (Black et al., 2022), and families with children playing sports pay on average about $900 each year for each child’s primary sport (Project Play, 2022). And while parents say that the main reasons they support their children playing sports are the child’s interest and to increase the child’s physical activity levels (Hospital for Special Surgery, 2019), 20% are sure their child will get a college athletic scholarship and another 30% are pretty sure (Cerullo, 2019). These unrealistic expectations increase the willingness

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of parents to pay for and children to work hard in playing organized sports. To be successful in a sport, children must give up other aspects of their lives and their identity becomes highly linked to their athletic success (McMahan, 2023). And the increased competition as children grow older leads to more practices and games and physical overuse of the body. Some adolescent athletes end up with serious injuries that are like those found in adults working in hard labor jobs for many years (Holmes, 2019). Those players that do succeed in this intensely competitive system continue onto college sports. This system of intense competition of youth athletes benefits the colleges and universities as they end with a pool of highly skilled and well-trained student-athletes to recruit from without having to pay anything for the work, time, and money that the young athletes and their families have put into training.

5.2.3 The NCAA, the Student-Athlete, and Amateurism Following their dreams to play sports in college and possibly professionally, and trained in high school to follow the rules of their coaches and work hard, most college student-athletes initially embrace the system of amateurism enforced by the NCAA. In a podcast published by The Atlantic (2021), journalist Adam Harris describes the typical perception of a student-athlete, which is based on his own experience as a men’s basketball student-athlete. Upon entering college, he felt he was a glamorous college athlete playing for the love of the game, and this perception was strengthened by what he was told by the NCAA about remining an amateur. This perception, he said, blinded him to the facts that he had signed away his rights and had agreed to not be paid in any way. But everyone else in college sports was being paid, and being paid a lot of money. In the 2018–2019 school year, the 65 universities that belong to the five most athletically elite conferences, called the Power Five, brought in $8.3 billion from the work of mostly Black male student-athletes in the sports of football and basketball (Kalman-Lamb et al., 2021a). Nor are these schools, that profit the most from Black male student athletes, supporting the admission and graduation rates of Black men. In the Power Five schools, Black men are 2.4% of the undergraduate population but 55% of football teams and 56% of their men’s basketball teams, and the rate of Black male student-athlete graduation is lower than other student-athletes and the undergraduate population as a whole (Brenneman, 2018). Colleges and universities have not just used the concept of amateurism to make lots of money from student-athletes who are mostly Black men. They have also used amateurism to disavow responsibility for the basic well-being of student-athletes in very cruel ways, such as by not providing them with enough food (Grenoble, 2014), giving them a fraudulent education (Gregory, 2017), not providing lifetime healthcare when they have been seriously injured (Branch, 2011, and not providing compensation to their families when they die while playing sports (Branch, 2011). There is an extensive history of college student-athletes and their allies launching legal and legislative actions and boycotts of practices or games, or the threat of

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boycotts, to protest the NCAA or their universities and colleges for various reasons (The Athletic, 2020; Boren, 2015; Drew, 2009; Faraudo, 2020; Fredrickson, 2020; Giambalvo et al., 2020; Given & Springer, 2017; Kravitz, 2020; Nadkarni & Nieves, 2015; Pagels, 2017; Quinn & Baumgardner, 2020; Vines, 2013). These actions and their goals have mostly taken place in localized contexts and without generating much awareness in the wider society, due in part to the NCAA using its vast financial resources to pay lawyers, lobby Congress, and influence the media. However, in recent years more legal and legislative actions have been brought against the NCAA, and young people are both more knowledgeable by being connected by social media and more politicized by multiple social movements. As a result, by 2019 the tide was beginning to turn against the NCAA (Associated Press, 2020; Ricciardelli, 2019; Tynes, 2019).

5.3 Impetus for the #NotNCAAProperty Movement Why did the #NotNCAAProperty movement take place in 2021? The first answer is the pandemic, because student-athletes were required to sacrifice even more than usual to make money for the vast college sports enterprise. Without fans to watch them play and cheer them on, without seeing other students on campus when they took classes, without the presence of their friends and family who had been banned from their lives to keep them healthy enough to play, student-athletes came to feel that the NCAA and their colleges and universities did not view them as students or even people. Instead, the NCAA views student-athletes as ‘dollar signs,’ as described by Ramogi Huma of the National College Players Association and reported by Boren (2021). Boren (2021) also interviewed Baker’s teammate Ron Harper Jr., who described how student-athletes having to sacrifice so much during the pandemic was making them realize they were being denied rights. The second answer was the growing broader NIL movement, with some individual states having already passed laws to restore NIL rights (Norlander, 2019) and the supreme court agreeing to hear a court case on the issue (Associated Press, 2020). But while the pandemic opened student-athletes’ eyes to their oppression and exploitation and the strengthening NIL movement provided a political opportunity for Baker, Bohannon, and Livers to launch the #NotNCAAProperty movement, the impetus for a movement still often comes from specific people. And the person most responsible for starting the #NotNCAAProperty was Bohannon. Bohannon was the engine of the movement, pushing it from the beginning. He started an ongoing Big Ten players’ meeting in the summer of 2020 to discuss the COVID pandemic impact and players rights and invited Huma from the NCPA to attend (National College Players Association, 2021). Bohannon was the most vocal of the Big Ten basketball players early on about the fact that athletes were being denied rights and being economically exploited, and educated other players about the issues. Baker, who later would become the most visible leader of the movement, said it was Bohannon

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speaking up about these issues that gave him the confidence to also speak up (Geo Baker, February 20, 2023, personal communication).

5.4 Strategies Used in the #NotNCAAProperty Movement 5.4.1 Timing One of the main strategies of a movement is its timing. Surprisingly, the organizers decided in the moment to launch the #NotNCAAProperty movement on the eve of March Madness. It was a group decision the organizers made after meeting with a group of players to discuss the movement and tactics, including the possibility of a boycott. Livers had prior experience to bring to the table; he had been a freshman when his teammate Duncan Robinson discussed the possibility of a practice boycott prior to playing in the March Madness final four game in 2018 (Quinn & Baumgardner, 2020). The organizers told reporters the next day that they had considered the possibility of delaying or boycotting games but then decided to not do so (Thompson, 2021). They reasoned that since they did not have any control over the televising of games, if they had taken action during a game, the networks would just shut down the cameras and switch to something else. Although decided in the moment, the timing of the protest was savvy, as the eyes of most sports fans were on Indianapolis, where March Madness was being held.

5.4.2 Mobilization While the movement organizers did not have any control over the televising of games, they had their social media platforms and were familiar with using hashtags to publicize and gain support for a social movement. By stating their main demand in the form of a hashtag, they were conducting a social movement using hashtag activism and inviting all those who supported them to tell their stories by writing posts linked to the hashtag. A hashtag encourages participants in a movement to tell their stories (Mueller et al., 2021) and to increase their offline political participation (Chon & Park, 2019), and it enables groups to change the public debate around issues by introducing new perspectives and to build up networks of geographically scattered and diverse participants (Jackson et al., 2020). The #NotNCAAProperty hashtag encouraged different student-athletes to tell their stories of how they had been impacted by waiving their NIL rights, which provided a counter for the NCAA message of the glamour of amateurism.

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5.4.3 Messaging The messages that Baker, Bohannon, and Livers posted or publicized using the #NotNCAAProperty hashtag was broadly aimed at all student-athletes and their allies and their demands were narrowly focused on NIL rights (Baker, 2021a, 2021b; Bohannon, 2021). The #NotNCAAProperty movement demanded that the NCAA no longer require student-athletes to sign away their name, image, and likeness (NIL). The organizers’ messages focused on fairness and inclusion: student-athletes should be treated the same as other students and loss of NIL was a loss of human rights because it restricted the development, agency, creativity, and humanity of student-athletes (Baker, 2021a, 2021b; Bohannon, 2021). The framing of NIL rights as human rights and including all student-athletes in the movement provided a way to shift public perception to not see student-athletes as separate from other students.

5.5 Impacts of the #NotNCAAProperty Movement Baker, Bohannon and Livers understood that denying NIL was how amateurism was enforced and that public perception was a factor in support of amateurism. They launched the #NotNCAAProperty movement hoping to change the perception of amateurism in order to pressure the NCAA and impact an upcoming supreme court case on student-athletes’ rights and to mobilize student-athletes. With such well-known and respected student-athletes dramatically upstaging the start of March Madness with a protest of college sports’ governing body, some hoped-for impacts occurred immediately. The organizers’ messages and demand received immediate and extensive coverage from the media. The protest was reported on by Fox News (Gaydos, 2021b), the Los Angeles Times (McCollough, 2021), The New York Times (Witz & Blinder, 2021), NPR (Wamsley, 2021), The Washington Post (Boren, 2021), and many others. Another impact was contributing to mobilization around the #NotNCAAProperty movement. In one week, the #NotNCAAProperty movement posts were viewed by more than 140 million people (Caron, 2021). Some observers have concluded the current generation of young people is the most politically and socially active generation in a half-century and that the mobilization of athletes has been a big reason why (Associated Press, 2021). Although it is not known if the #NotNCAAProperty movement impacted the decision, later in 2021 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of rights for athletes (Nylen & Perez Jr., (2021). A post-movement impact is that Baker has been active in helping student understand how to use the new rights. He highlights how student-athletes can explore all of their interests: running a training camp, marketing a brand, starting a podcast, or creating a foundation, and he cheers on all of these initiatives as well as encouraging student-athletes to stay in touch so that they can keep pushing for other changes. (Christovich, 2022).

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5.6 Did the #NotNCAAProperty Movement Fall Short? As a participant-observer of the #NotNCAAProperty movement I was critical that the movement did not explicitly address the economical exploitation of mostly Black male student-athletes, although I did not share that criticism with Baker at that time. Others were critical as well, both at the time and since NIL rights have been passed (Hallman, 2022; Kalman-Lamb et al., 2021a, 2021b). On the day that the #NotNCAAProperty movement was launched, The Guardian (Kalman-Lamb et al., 2021a), perhaps to draw attention to what the organizers’ messages did not say, published an article that presented an in-depth analysis of the massive extent of the economic exploitation of the elite and mostly Black male student-athletes in college football and men’s basketball. In that article, Kalman-Lamb et al. (2021a) revisited the phrase ‘Modern day slavery’ that Baker had previously used to describe college sports and concluded that he had later walked back that phrase because white supremacist dynamics constrain Black athletes. This is what Baker (2023) responded when I asked him about this criticism. Well, the way I saw it was to get to that we first had to tackle NIL. That would get us to the next step. And paying players is a very complicated issue. I wasn’t sure how we could talk about that. But, really, at the end of the day, that wasn’t my fight. My fight was for something that I felt just wasn’t fair, that student-athletes didn’t have the rights to do the things everyone else could do. (Geo Baker, February 20, 2023, personal communication)

Analyzing this statement, it seems Baker, who has participated in social movements as a participant and as a leader, views social movements as communities of people that all have experiences of oppression that may overlap and yet be different, and that a movement is stronger if its participants can advocate for the goals that are most important to them. There’s an analogy here with a sports team, where everyone has different roles. I could almost hear the question Baker might have asked next, What your fight? And if you’re passionate about that fight and it’s principled, then Baker would be cheering you to take it on, just as he is cheering on many of the initiatives, big and small, of student-athletes using their NIL rights.

5.7 Summary The #NotNCAAProperty movement was a limited hashtag activism social movement that was launched to work in concert with other actions taking place across the country. The movement played an important role by exposing how the NCAA oppressed players in order to maintain profits and by visibly showing that there was widespread support for reform of the college sports system. The specific actions by movement leaders and organizers that were key to the spread and impacts of the movement were (a) they were aware of and supported other student-athlete activist endeavors; (b) they focused on the human rights and the humanity of all studentathletes thus providing a cognitive liberation from the NCAA narrative; (c) they

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were inclusive of the experiences of all student-athlete thus preventing the splitting of college student-athletes into two groups, the elite mostly Black male football and men’s basketball players and all others; (d) they launched the movement at a strategic time and with a strategic method to achieve the maximum amount of public attention and supporters; (e) they publicly identified the NCAA as the core institution oppressing student-athletes; and (f) they supported and participated in events to educate student-athletes on ways they could benefit from the restoration of their rights both before and after NIL rights were restored.

5.8 Conclusion The #NotNCAAProperty movement leaders and organizers both supported and took advantage of the political opportunity of the strengthening movement for NIL rights. Baker, Bohannon, Livers, and Human had tremendous resources to draw on. They were young, highly educated, highly respected, media savvy, familiar with social movements, and were comfortable in communicating with many different kinds of people. The many expectations and experiences they had in common helped shaped the messages and strategies they formulated, and helped them to work constructively with each other and with allies.

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Baker, G. [Geo_Baker_1] (2021c, November 2). Thank you @VICETV@VICESports for taking the time to sit down and hear my story! Check out the full video here [Video attached]. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://mobile.twitter.com/Geo_Baker_1/status/1455650684569796615 Black, L., Terlizzi, E., & Vahratian, A. (2022, August). Organized sports participation among children aged 6–17 years: United States, 2020 (NCHS Data Brief, no 441). National Center for Health Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db441.htm Bohannon, J. [@JordanBo_3] (2021, March 17). It’s been far too long. Time for our voices to be heard. #NotNCAAProperty [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/JordanBo_3/status/137224228 7095349253 Boone, K. (2020, March 13). 2020 NCAA Tournament canceled due to growing threat of coronavirus pandemic. CBS Sports Digital. https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/2020-ncaatournament-canceled-due-to-growing-threat-of-coronavirus-pandemic/ Boren, C. (2015, March 12). Oklahoma football players call for further investigation after SAE racist incident. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/03/ 12/oklahoma-football-players-call-for-further-investigation-after-sae-racist-incident/ Boren, C. (2021, March 18). Prominent NCAA tournament players launch ‘#NotNCAAProperty’ protest as March Madness begins. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/spo rts/2021/03/18/not-ncaa-property/ Branch, T. (2011, October). The shame of college sports. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/ magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/308643/ Breitman, A. (2021, March 18). Geo Baker & Rutgers basketball at forefront of #NotNCAAProperty movement. On the Banks. https://www.onthebanks.com/2021/3/18/22337628/geo-bakerrutgers-basketball-not-ncaa-property-movement-jordan-bohannon-isaiah-livers-ncpa-nli-right Brenneman, R. (2018, March 11). Black athletes’ graduation rates lag at U.S. universities with top sports teams. USC News. https://news.usc.edu/138228/leading-sports-schools-black-athletesgraduation-rates-lower/ Carino, J. (2020, October 30). Rutgers basketball: It’s legacy time for Geo Baker. Asbury Park Press. https://www.app.com/story/sports/college/2020/10/30/rutgers-basketball-geo-baker/374 1817001/ Caron, E. (2021, March 24). March madness daily: #NotNCAAProperty reaches millions online. Sportico. https://www.sportico.com/leagues/college-sports/2021/not-ncaa-property-rea ches-millions-social-media-1234625514/ Cerullo, M. (2019, May 20). Betting on a sports scholarship to pay for kids’ college? Don’t. CBS NEWS. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/betting-on-a-sports-scholarship-to-pay-for-kidscollege-dont/ Chappell, B. (2021, January 4). NCAA Says 2021 Men’s March Madness will take place in a bubble in Indiana. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/01/04/953261708/ ncaa-says-2021-march-madness-will-take-place-in-a-bubble-in-indiana Chon, M., & Park, H. (2019). Social media activism in the digital age: Testing an integrative model of activism on contentious issues. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 97(1). https:/ /doi.org/10.1177/1077699019835 Christovich, A. (2022, June 16). Geo Baker isn’t finished helping NCAA athletes cash in. Front Office Sports. https://frontofficesports.com/geo-baker-ncaa-athletes-cash-in/ Dosh, K. (2021, August 17). New report shows how attractive college sports fans are to brand marketers. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristidosh/2021/08/17/new-reportshows-how-attractive-college-sports-fans-are-to-brand-marketers/?sh=3346e4fb175c Drew, J. (2009, November 6). BYU Football: Remembering the Black 14 Protest. The Salt Lake Tribune. https://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/byucougars/ci_13728556 Faraudo, J. (2020, August 1). Pac-12 Football: Players threaten boycott if health, compensation demands aren’t met. Sports Illustrated. https://www.si.com/college/cal/news/pac-12-boycott

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Fonseca, B. (2021, February 1). After calling NCAA ‘modern day slavery,’ Rutgers’ Geo Baker says he meant what he said, but regrets how he said it. NJ.com. https://www.nj.com/rutgersba sketball/2021/02/after-calling-ncaa-amateurism-rules-modern-day-slavery-rutgers-geo-bakerstands-by-his-message-but-regrets-its-presentation.html Fredrickson, K. (2020, December 11). Utah State at Colorado State football game canceled due to USU player boycott. The Denver Post. https://www.denverpost.com/2020/12/11/csu-utah-statefootball-game-canceled/ Gaydos, R. (2021a, January 30). Rutgers’ Geo Baker compares NCAA amateurism to ‘modern day slavery’. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/sports/rutgers-geo-baker-ncaa-amateurism Gaydos, R. (2021b, March 18). College basketball stars bring NIL fight to national stage with list of demands. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/sports/college-basketball-stars-nil-fight-nat ional-stage-demands Giambalvo, E., Klemko, R., & Strauss, B. (2020, August 2). Pac-12 football players threaten boycott if health and social justice demands are not met. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/08/02/pac-12-football-players-thr eaten-boycott-if-health-social-justice-demands-are-not-met/ Given, K., & Springer, S. (2017, November 17). Before Kaepernick, the ‘Syracuse 8’ were blackballed by pro football. WBUR. https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2017/11/17/syracuse-8-foo tball-boycott-kaepernick Gregory, S. (2017, October 13). North Carolina academic fraud decision exposes college sports hypocrisy. Time. https://time.com/4981782/north-carolina-academic-fraud-decision-exposescollege-sports-hypocrisy/ Grenoble, R. (2014, April 7). UConn basketball player speaks of ‘hungry nights,’ going to bed ‘starving’. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/shabazz-napier-hungry-uconn-basket ball_n_5106132 Jackson, S. J., Bailey, M., & Welles, B. F. (2020). #HashtagActivism: Networks of race and gender justice. MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10858.001.0001 Hallman, C. (2022, January 25). Controversy grows over who benefits from NIL deals. Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. https://spokesman-recorder.com/2022/01/25/controversygrows-over-who-benefits-from-nil-deals/ Hawkins, J. (2020, November 29). Michigan’s Isaiah Livers says kneeling ‘bigger than basketball’. The Detroit News. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/ 2020/11/29/michigan-wolverines-isaiah-livers-kneeling-bigger-than-basketball/6456586002/ Hensley, A. (2021, March 17). #NotNCAAProperty: Iowa basketball’s Jordan Bohannon, others tweet grievances at the NCAA. Hawk Central. https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sports/2021/ 03/17/iowa-basketball-jordan-bohannon-march-madnes-ncaa-tournament-2021-twitter-notnca aproperty/4736486001/ Hlas, M. (2020, April 30). Fran McCaffery on Iowa men’s basketball in 2020–21: ‘We have a chance to have a special season’. The Gazette. https://www.thegazette.com/hawkeye-basketball/franmccaffery-on-iowa-mens-basketball-in-2020-21-we-have-a-chance-to-have-a-special-season/ Holmes, B. (2019, July 11). ‘These kids are ticking time bombs’: The threat of youth basketball. ESPN. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27125793/these-kids-ticking-bombs-threatyouth-basketball Hospital for Special Surgery. (2019, November 5). New research identifies parents’ motivations when deciding to enroll their children in organized sports. https://news.hss.edu/new-researchidentifies-parents-motivations-when-deciding-to-enroll-their-children-in-organized-sports/ Kalman-Lamb, N., Silva, D., & Mellis, J. (2021a, March 17). ‘I signed my life to rich white guys’: Athletes on the racial dynamics of college sports. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/ sport/2021/mar/17/college-sports-racial-dynamics Kalman-Lamb, N., Silva, D., & Mellis, J. (2021b, September 7). Race, money and exploitation: why college sport is still the ‘new plantation’. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/ 2021/sep/07/race-money-and-exploitation-why-college-sport-is-still-the-new-plantation

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Kravitz, B. (2020, October 9). ‘We got to tell our story’: The IU 10’s fight for racial justice in ’60s Indiana. The Athletic. https://theathletic.com/2049696/2020/10/09/we-got-to-tell-ourstory-the-iu-10s-fight-for-racial-justice-in-60s-indiana/ Lorincz, K. (2021, February 10). Geo Baker’s mindful approach solidifies Scarlet Knights. Rutgers. https://www.rutgers.edu/news/geo-bakers-mindful-approach-solidifies-scarlet-knights Martinelli, M. R. (2021, March 20). Injured Michigan star Isaiah Livers wore #NotNCAAProperty shirt at Wolverines’ tournament opener. USA Today. https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/03/ncaa-tou rnament-michigan-isaiah-livers-not-ncaa-property-nil-rules McCollough, J. B. (2021, March 17). Players launch #NotNCAAProperty movement a day before March Madness begins. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2021-03-17/ players-start-not-ncaa-property-movement-march-madness-tournament McMahan, I. (2023, January 2). What it’s like to retire in your early 20s. The Atlantic. https://www. theatlantic.com/family/archive/2023/01/college-athletes-sports-retirement/672574/ Mueller, A., Wood-Doughty, Z., Amir, S., Dredze, M., & Lynn Nobles, A. (2021). Demographic representation and collective storytelling in the me too Twitter hashtag activism movement. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 5(CSCW1), 107. https://doi.org/10. 1145/3449181 Nadkarni, R., & Nieves, A. (2015, November 9). Why Missouri’s football team joined a protest against school administration. Sports Illustrated. https://www.si.com/college/2015/11/09/mis souri-football-protest-racism-tim-wolfe Nalwasky, C. (2021, March 18). Geo Baker leading the way in fight for NIL rights for college athletes. The Knight Report. https://rutgers.rivals.com/news/geo-baker-leading-the-way-in-fight-for-nilrights-for-college-athletes National College Players Association. (2021, March 17). College basketball players launch #NotNCAAProperty March Madness protest. https://www.ncpanow.org/releases-advisories/col lege-basketball-players-launch-notncaaproperty-march-madness-protest NCAA. (2021, January 11). NCAA announces further details for 2021 Division I men’s basketball championship. https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2021-01-04/ncaa-ann ounces-further-details-2021-division-i-mens-basketball-championship Norlander, M. (2019, September 30). California governor signs law allowing college athletes to be paid for name, image and likeness as NCAA protests. CBS. https://www.cbssports.com/col lege-basketball/news/california-governor-signs-law-allowing-college-athletes-to-be-paid-forname-image-and-likeness-as-ncaa-protests/ Nylen, L., & Perez, J., Jr. (2021, June 21). Supreme Court rules in favor of athletes in NCAA compensation case. Politico. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/21/supreme-court-ncaaantitrust-ruling-495319 Pagels, J. (2017, June 10). One intriguing way the NCAA cartel could crumble and pave the way to paid athletes. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimpagels/2017/06/10/one-intriguing-waythe-ncaa-cartel-could-crumble-and-pave-the-way-to-paid-athletes/?sh=11196cc0150a Plows, A. (2008). Social movements and ethnographic methodologies: An analysis using case study examples. Sociology Compass, 2(5), 1523–1538. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2008.000 91.x Politi, S. (2020, June 9). ‘It’s my duty’: Rutgers star Geo Baker can lead a movement and make a different kind of history. NJ.com. https://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball/2020/06/its-my-dutyrutgers-star-geo-baker-can-lead-a-movement-and-make-a-different-kind-of-history.html Project Play. (2022, November). State of play 2022. Aspen Institute. https://www.aspenprojectplay. org/state-of-play-2022-intro Quinn, B., & Baumgardner. N. (2020, April 6). The near 2018 Final Four practice boycott you’ve never heard about. The Athletic. https://theathletic.com/1724778/2020/04/06/the-near-2018final-four-practice-boycott-youve-never-heard-about/ Ricciardelli, M. (2019, October 3). American public supports college athletes receiving endorsement money for ‘image and likeness,’ as approved in California this week. The Seton Hall Sports

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Poll. http://blogs.shu.edu/sportspoll/2019/10/03/american-public-supports-college-athletes-rec eiving-endorsement-money-for-image-and-likeness-as-approved-in-california-this-week/ Ruden, P. (2019, December 14). Bohannon to raffle off signed shoes, donate proceeds to UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital. The Daily Iowan. https://www.weareiowa.com/article/sports/jor dan-bohannon-raising-money-for-stead-family-childrens-hospital/524-ed8e780a-806c-418fa6b4-bf37c7076c69 Rutgers University Athletics. (2021, February 9). Geo Baker named candidate for Senior CLASS Award. https://www.scarletknights.com/news/2021/2/9/mens-basketball-geo-baker-named-can didate-for-senior-class-award Schnyderite, R. (2021, February 24). Senior day spotlight: Rutgers Basketball guard Geo Baker. The Knight Report. https://rutgers.rivals.com/news/senior-day-spotlight-rutgers-basketball-guardgeo-baker Thompson, J. (2021, March 18). #NotNCAAProperty protest could put NCAA Tournament games in jeopardy as players say they might sit out or force delays. Insider. https://www.insider.com/ march-madness-ncaa-tournament-games-protest-2021-3 Tynes, T. (2019, October 11). The ripple effects of California’s ‘Fair Pay to Play’ Act. The Ringer. https://www.theringer.com/2019/10/11/20909171/california-sb-206-ncaa-pay-college-players Vines, M. (2013, October 16). Grambling players boycott practice Wednesday. USA TODAY. https:/ /www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/swac/2013/10/16/grambling-football-boycott-practice/ 2997601/ Wamsley, L. (2021, March 18). Before March Madness, college athletes declare they are #NotNCAAProperty. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/03/18/978829815/before-march-mad ness-college-athletes-declare-they-are-notncaaproperty Wilco, D. (2023, February 7). What is March Madness: The NCAA tournament explained. NCAA.com. https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/bracketiq/2023-02-07/what-marchmadness-ncaa-tournament-explained Witz, B., & Blinder, A. (2021, March 18). College athletes seek to use March stage to pressure N.C.A.A. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/sports/college-athletesseek-to-use-march-stage-to-pressure-ncaa.html Young, J. (2021a, March 16). With $1 billion on the line, March Madness is ready for its comeback. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/16/with-1-billion-on-the-line-march-madness-isready-for-its-comeback.html Young, J. (2021b, April 6). CBS saw 14% decline in viewers for NCAA men’s basketball championship game, while ratings for women’s title match on ESPN grew. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/ 04/06/ncaa-2021-final-four-championship-ratings-mens-down-14percent-womens-up.html

Chapter 6

Human Rights, High School Sports, and Special Education Matthew Speno

Abstract This chapter systematically discusses a specific relationship between sports and human rights. In response, this chapter is an examination into how high school special education students have the human right to participate in schoolsponsored extracurricular activities such as athletics. Along with this right, special education students have the right of access to coaches who are trained in the nuances of learning differences. Keywords Athletics · High school sports · Human rights · School-sponsored extracurricular activities special education · Social justice

6.1 Introduction The book you are reading is an important work that provides insight into how sport can be used as a source to understand and promote human rights and sadly, how sport can be used to undermine human rights. I hope my colleagues and I provide you and other readers with the knowledge that sport can be used to protect human rights. When I speak of states that trample human rights, I am referring to countries that use sport to whitewash their records of human rights violations. For example, Saudi Arabia through their financing of the LIV Golf tour and Qatar through their hosting of the 2023 FIFA World. Hand on heart, I have a lot of work to do because, I am embarrassed to admit, I talked about my uneasiness about the FIFA World Cup being hosted by Qatar but did nothing. I watched the matches on my television, supported my team, and overlooked the human rights abuses Qatar commits buy repressing and discriminating against marginalized groups such as women, migrant workers, or the queer community to name a few. Sport is an important venue for humans to come together and honor international human rights. M. Speno (B) Salem State University, Salem, MA, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing (eds.), Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_6

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When we consider the educational system in the United States, standardized learning outcomes are facilitated through curriculum structures, along with a complex amalgam of human learning theories that predicate a philosophical discourse on the processes of human learning. Students are subject to an educational system which relies on the articulation of time-bound, physical, and mental attributes that signal movement through the PK-12 sorting mechanisms of elementary, middle, and secondary levels. Jarvis (2006) argued human learning is a lifelong process where the separation between the youth and adult learning is reflective yet transpiring within different social contexts. This existential understanding of something as complex as human learning promotes a philosophical consideration of humanistic and experiential learning through social experience. A human being is predisposed to engage in the process of learning to thrive. Just as in the case that sustenance promotes human life-force, the emotional and social capacity of the Being cultivates, through learning in a social context, an individual’s lifeworld (Giorgi, 1985; Ryba, 2008). Approaching educational theory from the perspective of the learning mode intersects with what Jarvis describes as a fundamental right of being a human being; to have access to a continuum of learning that spans a lifetime (2006). I invite you to pause, take a deep breath, and consider the relationship between human rights, high school sports and special education. Did my request to think about the interplay between these seemingly separate pillars of global citizenship take you out of your comfort zone? Were you able to identify a connection? Could you care less? Personally, I have stepped out of my comfort zone, recognized commonalities, and yes, I care, a great deal. By considering and understanding how human rights provide foundational entitlements for human dignity, and how sports operate in a selfcontained ecosystem that brings humans together based on a common regard for the home team, we begin to uncover a synchronistic relationship that can incite paradigmatic cultural revolution that disrupts how we treat our fellow humans! Although the lumping of human rights and sports has not been the order of the day for decades, dare I say, centuries, we have an opportunity to dissect and view how engaging in sports as an athlete can illuminate the need to ask powerful questions about how simple it is to support the affordance of the basic, inalienable human rights we are afforded at birth (United Nations, 1948). I say it is simple, but I must warn you now, it will not be easy!

6.2 What Are Human Rights Human rights are just that, rights that are afforded for the simple fact that we are all born into humankind. The work of the United Nations (UN) centers around these universal human rights. On December 19, 1948, with a vote of 48-0, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Again, the concept of human rights is simple to understand, but not easy to ensure when, on the global stage, actors exist that do not support common sense. While the UN distinguishes 30 articles of affirming human rights in the UDHR, it is

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important for member states to utilize these rights when developing law, policy, and best-practice concerning the protection of these inherent rights of all human beings. Over the decades and into the twenty-first century, UN agencies, treatises, conventions, and declarations supported by the UN General Assembly continue to provide the foundation for thought leadership for the development of fundamental human rights on planet Earth. While these documents and happenings provide a guide to establish and safeguard the human rights for all people, the purpose of this chapter, the rights of the child and their relationship to fair play in extracurricular sports for students with special needs will be our focus (Lengyel & Vanbergeijk, 2021; Yell et al., 2014).

6.3 Children’s Human Rights According to the UDHR (1948), “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (p. 2). The most important words, in my opinion, are all human beings because it provides an absolute. In the case of any uncertainty about the rights of a child are concerned, the UN adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) which protects the best interests of the child in support of their development into an adult human. Though the UN has created numerous treatises and other documents championing human rights, there are several (Table 6.1) which pertain to children with disabilities and special education needs. The Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) confirms there are many children who live in challenging conditions around the world. By virtue of being a young human, one that needs cultivation into an adult, the treaty establishes agreement that young children under the age of eighteen or lawful age of majority need special consideration and protection from discrimination in any form. The Salamanca Statement and Framework on Special Needs Education, adopted by the World Conference on Special Needs Education: Access and Quality (1994), is a significant global special education document. The Salamanca Statement establishes the inclusive model of schooling as the most appropriate way to support equity of access to and delivery of educational curriculum around the world. Lastly, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol (CRPD) provides a human rights instrument that treats persons with disabilities as a human who has the right to enjoy life as a Being and not as a charitable item. Table 6.1 UN documents related to special needs education Treaty/document

Year

Universal Declaration of Human rights (UDHR)

1948

Declaration of the Rights of the Child (DCRC)

1959

Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC)

1989

The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education

1994

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol (CRPD)

2006

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6.4 Area of Pertinence The work on human rights by the UN can be understood, in its simplest terms, as a relationship between two things, such as a fish is to water, as human rights is to dignity. As we have learned through the discussion about human rights above, and throughout this book, to be human is to have the birthright to being treated with dignity and respect by All in every part of circumstances of humanness. For the child, school is the natural space to teach about human rights and the behaviors that support these rights.

6.5 Origins of Special Education Although the United States Constitution does not guarantee its citizenry the right to a free public education, the power to create public schools and establish compulsory attendance legislation falls upon states as per the Tenth Amendment of the U.S Constitution (U.S. Const. amend. X). Starting with Massachusetts in 1852 and ending with Alaska in 1926, all states in the USA, along with the District of Columbia enacted compulsory education attendance laws (Aron & Loprest, 2012; Yell et al., 1998). With each state establishing its own age range it applies to compulsory attendance ages, a disconnect between the quality of education afforded to students who had or did not have learning disabilities. Unfortunately, although children were required to attend school, special education students (those with physical and emotional disabilities) were not treated with equitable access to public education during the start of compulsory public education in the United States (Yell et al., 1998). That the U.S. education system has, before the mid to late twentieth century, disenfranchised students with special education needs is cause for concern related to the rights of the child. From a progression of litigious proceedings, it became apparent to lawmakers that developing and enacting federal legislation supporting students with special education needs was necessary to promote equitable educational opportunities (Hocker, 2015; Pisacone, 2022; Yell et al., 1998). Like process for much of the legislation in the United States, laws that support high school students with special educational needs is intermittently updated or reauthorized to reflect a change in an attitude of exclusion to that of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (J. Speno, personal communication, January 5, 2023). This change in attitude reflects the understanding the human rights of the special education student are forever changing and need to be advocated for and protected (UNESCO, 1994).

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6.6 Special Education Student Rights: Litigation and Legislation Although the development of special education legislation traces its roots to litigative events (Table 6.2) filed for the protection of the rights of the special education student, the civil rights movement in the United States provided the backdrop whereby the evolution of the special education structure began (Pisacone, 2022; Wright & Wright, 2007) It is important to note in 1946, eight years before the civil rights movement, United States District Court Judge Paul J. McCormick’s ruling in favor of the plaintiff in the case of Mendez v. Westminster School District marked the movement towards establishing ethno-racial segregation unconstitutional (Strum, 2014). The echoes of Mendez signaled precedent against school segregation in the United States. In the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which addressed racial inequality in schools and found the segregation base on race was a direct violation of the US Constitution, specifically the Equal Opportunity Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, advocates for special education equity found legal precedence which would form the foundation of special education legal litigation. While defining the concept of separate but equal as it applied to educational segregation by race, the application of Brown to the legal foundation of disability rights in the classroom ensured that special education students would not be educate separately from their nondisabled peers (Aron & Loprest, 2012; Brown v. Board of Education, 1954). Other case law decisions responsible for bringing attention to the inequitable treatment of special education students established equity of access in various aspects of educational infrastructure which impact the right to equal educational access for special education students. From Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens [PARC] v. Pennsylvania the foundation for special education was established through the assertion that all special education students have the right to a free and appropriate Table 6.2 U.S. litigation and legislation related to special needs education Litigation Mendez v. Westminster School District

1946

Brown v. Board of Education

1954

PARC v. Pennsylvania

1972

Mills v. Board of Education

1972

Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley

1982

Daniel R.R. v. State Board of Education

1989

Oberti v. Board of Education

1992

Legislation Education for the Handicapped Act (EHA)

1970

Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA)

1975

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

1990, 1997, 2004

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education (FAPE) at the state level (1972, henceforth PARC). Another important case, Mills v. Board of Education (1972, henceforth Mills) ruled students who present with invisible disabilities such as ADD/ADHD, behavioral challenges, and epilepsy had the right to a fee education separate from budget constraints. Mills also provided for a set of procedural safeguards that protect special education students’ due process, which became a pillar in subsequent legislation. From Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson School District v. Rowley (1982), the case considered that access to FAPE needed to be supported to how a quality education would be provided in terms of resources and services. In 1989, the ruling in Daniel R.R. v. State Board of Education provided guidance on providing students with learning disabilities an education which is conducted in the least restrictive environment (LRE). This case also established that LRE for one student may not be appropriate for other learningdisabled students because although a disability designation may be the same, its manifestation is individualistic to each learner (Pisacone, 2022; Wright & Wright, 2007). Finally, the outcome of Oberti v. Board of Education (1992) established that in order to support the right of an inclusive education by students with learning disabilities (UNESCO, 1994), related services (social work, speech therapy, etc.), accommodations, supplementary aids were necessary to support inclusive learning for special education students in the general education classroom with their nondisabled peers. For many, the development and passage of federal legislation that protect the rights of special education students to a free, fair, and equitable education was the natural progression from the historic case law discussed above. Beginning with the Education for the Handicapped Act (1970), federal funding for the protection of the right of access to a quality education for students with special needs was allocated (Vanbergeijk & Lengyel, 2021a; Yell et al., 1998). In 1975, the Act was updated and renamed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EACHA) which specified all students with qualifying disabilities will have access to FAPE, LRE, be afforded due process, and not to be discriminated against in educational placements and testing (Yell et al., 1998). For the next several decades, the EACHA was subject to iterations that have shaped our current special education federal mandates entitled the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) which provides protection of the right to have access to a quality and free public education.

6.7 Special Education Delivery in the Classroom: Bell to Bell With the advent of legislative guidance and support for the special education student in schools across the United States, access to FAPE has become more equitable as it relates to not only receiving an education in the LRE but is driven by ensuring the dignity of said students are of the utmost concern. FAPE and LRE are but two ingredients in the alphabet soup bowl which contains sustenance for applying and honoring

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federal special needs law (Vanbergeijk & Lengyel, 2021b; Wright & Wright, 2007). While other ingredients, such as SDI, IEP, OHI, ASD to name a few, represent other key aspects of legislation, FAPE and LRE are vital in protecting the legislative and human rights for dignified access to free education based on the premise that all humans, as declared in the UDHR (1948) Article 3 that, “everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person” (p. 2). The UDHR (1948) continues, in Article 26, that education is not only a right and will be free, but any education also provided at the elementary and secondary levels must be appropriated to fully develop humans of character and to foster the respect and understanding of comprehensive human rights as declared by the UN treaties. In United States PK-12 schools, the individual education program (IEP) is a federally mandated document that provides guidance on the development and delivery of a curriculum that provides the conditions for a special education student to thrive in school.

6.8 Gen Ed Collaboration and Professional Development In essence, US law and UN human rights declarations are congruent in the educational treatment of individuals with special education needs. But how does this translate into the school day? While the teaching students with disabilities can happen in a variety of learning environments such as a self-contained classroom, resource rooms, or special schools, I support the tenets of the Salamanca statement (UNESCO, 1994) whereby the regular school, one based on true inclusion, is the best learning environment, for ALL! My career as a special education teacher spans more than 25 years working with students who have disability designations consistent with invisible disabilities. In instances where I was able to co-teach in a regular classroom with a general education teacher, I introduced learning approaches that addressed global learning strategies in that, special and general education students integrated curriculum content, process, and outcomes based on their individual starting points. When I was unable to co-teach with colleagues, I provided professional development which addressed effective teaching attitudes and strategies, so colleagues had the opportunity to develop confidence incorporating special education differentiation into their teaching repertoire. As we recall, the aim of federal special education law and UN human rights considerations are to provide access to life, liberty, and learning in the manner that access to these inalienable rights are protected and facilitated at all levels of ethnographic development of the global citizenry. My pedagogical approach, like many certified special education teachers, is based upon the practice of inclusion of special education students into the general education classroom. With a nod towards the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994), my professional opinion supports the development of inclusive schools that celebrate diversity, acceptance, and individuality. Furthermore, although the World Conference on Special Needs Education took place almost 30 years ago, the delegates agreed on the urgency to act and create a global educational standard of the regular school. As per the Statement, a regular school not

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only creates an inclusive environment without discriminatory attitudes, but it also provides a structure of efficient and effective education for most learners (UNESCO, 1994). While I am not sure how far we have come with regards to creating a system of regular schools around the World, I do know, in the United States, we are not there yet. I hear from colleagues around the country that special needs education is a minefield of legislative paperwork. Colleagues also highlight the burden of paperwork keeps them out of the classroom whereby educational paraprofessionals are delivering curriculum, albeit under the supervision of the certified special educator. Furthermore, special education teachers also reveal they are not meeting the needs of students on their caseload which, is a worrying situation that does not support equitable access to FAPE or LRE (DeMik, 2008). Would you drive across a bridge you knew was constructed by workers who were not expert welders, qualified laborers, and other trained tradespeople? How about crossing a bridge in a region of the United States famous for having bridges fail routine inspections? Now, imagine you have a child with special educational needs. Would you send them to school knowing their teacher will not be delivering the curriculum? How would you cross that bridge? While it seems implausible currently that, along with sub-par bridges in the United States transportation system, many special education classrooms lack the expertise of a special education teacher in the trenches. Unfortunately, this is the truth many special education students must deal with day in and day out.

6.9 High School Daze: Curricular vs. Extracurricular When children in the United States begin high school, the rite of passage of becoming an adolescent, and ultimately, an adult commences (Becker et al., 2015; Kessler, 1999; Lang, 2022). During this journey, youth are provided the opportunities and guidance to learn, develop, and apply the skills necessary to live as a productive member of a global society. In high school, the day is broken up, in its simplest form, into two blocks of time: curricular and extracurricular. According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, curricular is an adjective, “of or relating to academic courses of study” (1969, p. 557) and extracurricular is also an adjective, “of or relating to officially or semiofficially approved and…[usually] organized student activities (as athletics…) connected with the student’s school and…[usually] carrying no academic credit” (1969, p. 806). Another way to consider the relationship between curricular and extracurricular activities (ECA) in high school is by measuring educational efficacy related to cognitive skills (CS) and noncognitive Skills (NCS) addressed during the high school day and how the transfer of NCS improve academic outcomes (Raffo & Forbes, 2021; Vittadini et al., 2022). CS are intellectual efforts such as paying attention, logic and reasoning, and remembering. NCS are related to self-perception which spurs motivation, perseverance, and social aptitudes to name a few (Covay & Carbonaro, 2010; Raffo & Forbes, 2021). Empirical and thematic research has uncovered positive associations between

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the development of NCS during extracurricular activities and improved academic outcomes for all students, especially those who require special education accommodation and modifications (Covay & Carbonaro, 2010; Pisacone, 2022; Raffo & Forbes, 2021).

6.10 Types of Extracurricular Activities Many of us spent our youth learning reading, writing, and arithmetic in school. And, depending on who you ask, the moniker 3R’s (reading, riting, and rithmatic!) can be described as an endearing memory or a discursive pitfall. According to research, differences and similarities between academic and non-academic pursuits exist, yet many of the skills each activity teach are commensurate or complimentary as related to outcomes that lead to high school graduation (Covay & Carbonaro, 2010; Dieringer & Judge, 2015; Raffo & Forbes, 2021; Siperstein et al., 2019). In the high school classroom, subject matter that spurs the development of cognitive skills is imparted to students. During extracurricular activities, which are school sponsored, students are provided opportunities to develop non-cognitive skills. During extracurricular activities, students take on different roles than that of in the academic classroom. They become student-musicians’, student-artists’, student-thespians’, or student-athletes, to name a few.

6.11 Extension of the Classroom A meta-analysis of the literature, conducted by Shulruf (2011), found improved academic outcomes for students who participate in school sponsored ECA. While it is established that non-cognitive skills development in ECA has a positive impact upon academic outcomes in high school, how does the participation in ECA equate improved academic outcomes happen? If you recall the difference between CS and NCS are that the former relates to intellectual efforts and the former are considered soft skills associated with personality and attitudes. ECA participation incorporates soft skills such as time management, persistence, teamwork, following directions, creativity, social competence, self-perception, self-control, and meta-cognition (Gutman & Schoon, 2013). When these NCS are developed through consistent practice, application, and sponsorship from the school, the transference to the formal classroom results in improved academic outcomes (Raffo & Forbes, 2021). Let us backpedal for a moment to consider what it means to categorize ECA as an extension of the classroom. Although high school athletics can be quite competitive with the goal of winning being of primary concern, playing on a high school team is much more. According to research, the participation in school sponsored by all students provides opportunities for positive youth development which positively impact the right of passage towards adulthood (Palmer et al., 2017; Raffo & Forbes,

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2021; Wretman, 2017). Classroom instruction, what I term butts-on-seats can be effective, dependent upon the curriculum and its delivery. During curricular activities, students are presented with a sequence of lessons which build upon previous cognitive skill learning, towards a level of mastery that, in the end, will provide a student with the pre-requisite coursework for high school graduation. What about the lessons and NCS school-sponsored athletics teach? Are the skills of criticalthinking, time-management, social growth and development, etc. not important for academic achievement? Of course, they are. Consider the image of a student sitting at their desk with a teacher hovering with a shovel in hand. The teacher is using the shovel to deposit the fodder of curriculum relevance into the head of the student. This is a picture that the industrialization of education could use in its marketing material, imparting the same content with the same shovel. Mind you in some cases, a garden trowel would be more appropriate! While this may work for some, many students do not learn this way and need the opportunity to develop skills that will foster a reflective stance for growth. Enter the possibilities of participating in ECA. The NCS a student-athlete must engage in can provide the information necessary for the student to transfer their learning to CA, which can facilitate an intrinsic stance of self-determination for academic success needed to earn a high school diploma (Brinton et al., 2017; Kramers et al., 2020; Vittadini et al., 2022). The benefits for equitable learning when CA and ECA are considered as mutually exclusive can cultivate a positive impact on learning and its efficacy can be more effective for lifelong learning than engaging with each in isolation (Dieringer & Judge, 2015; Jarvis, 2006; Shulruf, 2011).

6.12 School Sponsored Extracurricular Athletics According to research, athletic ECA provide high school students with gains that suggest a causal effect of ECA participation and improved academic and other educational outcomes (Rodriquez et al., 2022; Shulruf, 2011). While there are athletic opportunities outside of the school domain for special education students, such as Special Olympics Unified Sports (SOUS), the school sponsored athletic ECA has the potential to provide a more normative experience between CA and ECA. Studentathletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), through SOUS, have the structure, access, and support that facilitates the NCS benefits of participating in ECA (Rodriquez et al., 2022; Ryba, 2008; Vittadini et al., 2022). On the other hand, student-athletes who are designated with learning differences that are high in incidence, such as dyslexia, add/adhd, emotional disturbance, or a speech/language disability, are thought of as having invisible disabilities. Although these individuals do not present differently from their teammates in terms of physical or intellectual characteristics, having learning differences is one barrier special education students have successful participation in ECA athletics.

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6.13 Right to Tryout and Fair Play It is a matter of course that all students must have equal access and participation in ECA athletics, but in some interscholastic high school sports such as lacrosse, soccer, or hockey, a student-athlete must tryout for a spot on the team. Any tryout participated in by a special needs student must be of the same rigor, compliance, and assessment as their non-disabled peers. The tryout can become equitable when special education accommodations or modifications are applied to sporting activities as they are in academic settings. There is no feature of advantage in the tryout process, it is a pure right to have access without institutional ableism infringing on the basic human right of education. A student-athlete will the make the team because the coach believes in how this player will add to the team. Although try-outs are based on the athletic ability of a student-athlete, the coach acts as the authority on who makes the team and who does not. In the case of a student-athlete who has a lawfully designated learning disability and has an IEP, access to the tryout should take into consideration accommodations and supports just as in the academic classroom. The semantics and optics of the word should in the above sentence does nothing, in my opinion, to support the special needs student-athlete.

6.14 Coach as Teacher When the school bell rings to signal the end of the academic day where scheduled curricular activities such as the 3R’s give way to school sponsored extracurricular activities such as athletics. Students who participate in these after school sports, have the opportunity develop not only important NCS, but will be afforded, through universalism and cultural specificity, human rights as stipulated in the UDHR (Covay & Carbonaro, 2010; Kohfeldt & Grabe, 2014; United Nations, 1948). Unlike the CA school day where many adults are involved in delivering education, ECA is led by one or two adults who have experience as an athlete and/or a coach. In the case of the student-athlete who has learning differences, more often than not, the coach does not have the special education training as it relates to understanding a learning disability, not to mention, how to deliver an IEP (Kramers et al., 2020). According to research, while the institutional nuances of school, the educational system, is to promote the right to an education that is equitable in access and opportunity, the practice of inclusion may become compromised (Rapp & Corral-Granados, 2021). Without specific training in special education, most coaches will not be able to provide equitable access for student-athletes with special educational needs.

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6.15 Human Right to Access Extracurricular Athletics As you may know, the human right to education is well documented by UN declarations, conventions, and treatises, but you might be shocked to learn that in the United States, the human right to a free education is overlooked by the Constitution (Yell et al., 1998, 2014). In the United States of America, although the responsibility of education falls upon state governments, the needs of students, both in mainstream and special education, do not change and are not dependent upon partisan demarcations. It is important that access to ECA is treated equal for all learners not only because education is a human right, but because participation in athletic ECA provides an opportunity for a student-athlete to develop a skillset which compliments their work done in the academic classroom. This tenet rings true for all students, especially those with special education needs. The benefits for student-athletes participating in ECA are well documented (Sekhri, 2019; Stirling, 2016). For example, participation in ECA sports foster improvements in social, emotional, and physical well-being. Furthermore, ECA sports provides the special needs student-athlete the opportunity to practice time-management, hone social skills, engage in critical thinking, and build self-awareness which, when transferred inside and outside of the classroom, can support positive human development (Kramers et al., 2020). When the beneficial outcomes are examined through an experiential educational lens, Dewey (1938) posits a learner has access to more effective resources necessary to navigate the journey towards becoming an adult human.

6.16 Consistent Audacity Thinking-about and effecting change are related, albeit the latter is not a guarantee of the former and, to go one step further, when we think about change, it is really is just a judgement, an opinion of what we, the human We, perceive to be tentacles of change. The great Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, left our world with his writings commonly known as the Meditations (Aurelius, 2006) which have stood the test of time as classical philosophical literature. Although Marcus’ journal was a personal reflection not for public consumption, his musings are considered an important work based in classical antiquity that has relevance to contemporary philosophical queries about the human condition. His considerations continue to provide contemporary thought leaders with a thick description of how one man consoled himself to understand the universe and how his existence can make the world a better place for the Self, and for the benefit of all humans. In Book IV, Aurelius (2006) writes “the universe is change: life is judgement” (p. 24) and depending upon the translation from the original text, judgement can mean opinion. In this thoughtful reflection, Marcus gives human beings the gift of stepping aside and letting the order of the Universe continue to create its harmonious life-force that just IS! What comes of the human who looks to the natural order of things when

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encouragement is offered to sit down and trust in the silence of existence? I am one to consider that in this sequence of events, a solution will find its way through the silent noise to allow the reflection of what is just and right shine into the hearts and minds of all humans. In my opinion, the solution is to find justice in human rights. As I have said before, this solution is simple, but not easy to implement. When input from many different stakeholders, humans make laws or policies, and when these are adopted by communities and societies around the globe, their application are considered for the benefits of all citizens. Being an optimist, I believe a well-crafted law, policy, or treatise can provide guidance and protection for individuals and groups that make up civilization. Just as the U.S. Constitution document provides the structure for the creation of a federal democratic republic which protects the citizenry of the United States of America, the IDEA (2004) provides the mandated structure from which access to and equity for special education in the United States occurs. Why then, would we not start with a reauthorization of the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004) to ensure the human right to liberty, freedom, and education for students with special education needs? My statement is based upon common sense, but as you might agree, there is a level of absurdity when a lens of commonsense becomes cloudy! If the policy makers in Washington, DC were to take up a reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, it would signal to the citizens of the United States of America, nay, the citizens around the globe, that our world has changed and the current situation of special needs education is, in a word, inequitable. By addressing how special education happens throughout the school day, during curricular activities and extracurricular activities, the outcomes related to cognitive and non-cognitive skill development will provide REAL preparation for becoming a just, responsible, and productive adult member of humanity!

6.17 Professional Development for Coaches and Others If our lawmakers made the commitment to reauthorize the IDEA (2004) to include ECA as an extension of the school day in which the federal legislation was applicable to the protection of the rights of special education student-athletes, coaches and other adults would need special education training. According to research, there is a strong correlation between coach training, coach effectiveness, and a positive ECA experience for student athletes (Klein & Hollingshead, 2015). While this correlation makes sense, the type or method of coach training may have varying degrees of value with regards to coaching student-athletes to develop and hone their athletic skills, along with improving their NCS ability. Many coaches at the high school level usually have interscholastic coaching experience, knowledge of sport as a player, and an intrinsic desire to teach youth the benefits of competitive sports. A welltrained coach can provide opportunities of growth for student-athletes, especially

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when integrating theoretical perspectives like humanistic coaching, Kolb’s experiential learning theory, or Jarvis’s theory of human learning (Falcão et al., 2020; Stirling, 2016; Winchester et al., 2013). When I coached high school athletics, theoretical perspectives were not on my radar or even remotely part of my coaching skill base. I coached because I love sports and wanted to share my love for sport with youth, and I wanted to win the championship. My athletic experience at the high school, college, and club levels of playing sport got me the coaching job, but it was my instinct as a special educator which gave me the confidence to create an environment of inclusion. For example, I was hired to coach a high school athletic team whose win/loss record was dismal. On the first day of practice, I watched one player, who had some of the best athletic ability I have come across, make simple execution mistakes, get confused with directionality, and become confused by teammate’s communications. After practice, I approached the student-athlete to complement their play and to find out more about them as a student. I asked why they wanted to play sport and they let me know playing allowed them to excel at something that did not rely on academic ability. I came to find that this young human lived with an invisible learning disability (attentional phenomenon) and had an IEP. Their accomplishments in the classroom were few and far between, but on the pitch, they made exceptional contributions to the team every day. Their desire to play was as keen as their desire to fit in with peers, which I came to learn stemmed from how teachers and peers treated them because he would constantly forget homework, fail tests, take too long on assignments, and act out as the class clown. I understood the struggle this student went through each day and when they came to practice, they shared with me that even though they made mistakes on the field, they would make it up by creating a good play or scoring points. When I heard teammates bully them for mistakes made on the field, or in class, I made it a point to call the team out. As a direct result of my special education training, I made it a point not to single out any one player, and instead shared my experience of how my fellow teammates and coaches bullied me because I could not tell the difference between left and right, follow directions, or pay attention when I was not playing. I let the team know that any bullying or ill-treatment of a teammate was unacceptable and that if I found out it was happening, the guilty party would be asked to leave the team by myself and the team captains. Because I followed my training and instinct as a special educator, I confidently and intentionally created equity for that student-athlete who struggled with an invisible learning disability. My experience playing school sponsored extracurricular athletics, along with my educational training in special education has provided me with a solid foundation to be an effective and successful coach. I gauge my coaching success not just on winning, but on how a student-athlete can understand how and when skills on the field can be applied to life off the field, in the classroom, at work, as a family member, or in the community. In my playing experience, those who had coach training were consistent in the way practice was approached, transparent in choosing who played when, and respectful of the effort of individuals and the team.

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As I reflect on my time as a high school athletic coach, I realize my experience as a student-athlete in high school and in college provided me with intimate knowledge of the responsibilities and expectations of being on an athletic team. Accordingly, research on the how the variables of a coach’s athletic experience and coach training found the combination of these variables resulted in higher coach effectiveness (Kramers et al., 2020; Winchester et al., 2013). While the field of coach development is crowded with cookie cutter solutions and professional development to build a championship team, there is room coach training from a theoretical situation which considers how a student-athlete can develop skills on the field that can be applied and transferred to the classroom and beyond. It would be careless of me to not to recommend some structures from which to consider how the treatment of student-athletes as humans, and how their experience on the field facilitates deeper learning. For instance, humanistic coaching, in my opinion, represents an equitable approach to coaching in that its priority is human development over winning (Falcão et al., 2020). A humanistic coach understands the skills developed for athletics can be translated into essential life skills for post high school college or career, being a community member, and becoming a respectful and just human being. By respecting the omnipresent human right to dignity, the humanistic coach can guide student-athletes towards mastery of skills on the field which can be translated into essential life skills and agency necessary for living a life of self-actualization as an adult in training (Falcão et al., 2020; Lang, 2022). While a humanistic approach to coaching does provide a coach with a structure to facilitate a student-athlete centered approach using humanistic coaching values to promote player growth and development through teaching values like care, empathy, dignity, justice, and the human right to flourish, the lived experience of playing high school sport is another lens to view coach development (Bekius, 2022; Falcão et al., 2020). In 1938, John Dewey shared his matured philosophy of education in a succinct manner through a short work entitled Experience and Education. In this book, Dewey (1938) established his argument about the experience of education, that when of a positive quality, can cultivate further “enjoyable…desirable future experiences” (p. 27) but, on the other hand, an experience of a negative quality Dewey argues, can cultivate an outcome which leaves a student with contempt for their education. The work of John Dewey continues to have great impact on how educationalists consider experience as a lynchpin for a sound and just education. For example, David Kolb developed an educational theory based upon experiential learning, which is essentially learning by doing (Stirling, 2016; Virtue, 2022). In this theory, Kolb identifies four levels of learning experience which are stackable and necessary for a student to realize the best outcome from their learning. These cycles (Table 6.3) are a continuum of a learning experience which supports Dewey’s contention that when learning is agreeable, outcomes can positively impact future learning (Dewey, 1938; Jarvis, 2006; Stirling, 2016). Stirling (2016) argues Kolb’s stages of learning, when applied to coach training, can capitalize on a coaches prior experiences (in teaching, in coaching, as an athlete, as a human, etc.) to provide an effective coaching approach that supports a student-athlete to realize the benefits of ECA athletics on the field, in the classroom, and beyond.

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Four stages of learning: Kolb’s experiential learning theory Concrete experience

CE—Feeling dimension

Reflective observation

RO—Reflecting and watching dimension

Abstract conceptualization

AC—Thinking dimension

Active experimentation

AE—Doing dimension

Source Adapted from Stirling (2016)

Lastly, considering the philosophies of Dewey (1938), and Habermas (1987), Peter Jarvis (2006) constructed a more comprehensive learning model (Fig. 6.1) that emphasizes the process of and not just the outcome of learning. Jarvis (1987) argues the learning process is dependent upon how a student, or in the case of high school athletics, a student-athlete, responds to experience. Applying this philosophy to the coaching and coach training, student-athletes will be guided to understand and internalize their experience as a teammate to facilitate a transformative stance that can be applied to academic learning in the classroom. While Jarvis (1987) contends a comprehensive learning theory is forever in flux from updated and new thinking about learning, applying the complexity of learning theories to coach training may provide a coach with specific information to capitalize on a student-athletes lived experience of developing NCS that have transferable value to the classroom.

Fig. 6.1 Jarvis’ learning model (1987)

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6.18 Summary/Conclusions When I was writing this chapter for this book, many thoughts and feelings flooded my mind. First, I noticed gratitude and humility resonated in my being. Of course, I get the gratitude part as academic writing, finding and filling gaps in the literature, and pushing the envelope of scholarly pursuits is why I pursued my doctorate. The humility emotion is more complicated and personal, which I will expand on later. Second, I am certain there was a degree of PTSD when I thought about my experience as a student-athlete with invisible disabilities. Finally, I found comfort in having the opportunity to create a work that will address the injustices students with special needs experience in the classroom, on the athletic field, and within society in general. My experience playing sport as a student-athlete with invisible special needs provides the relevance for writing this chapter, but it was my lived experience as a marginalized human that drove me to understand the connection between human rights and sports. Unbeknownst to the adolescent-me who was a student-athlete, my low self-esteem was a direct result of how teachers and coaches consistently reminded me that I was stupid, lazy, and would not amount to anything. Because I found it difficult to learn and the fact that my special needs were overlooked, I struggled in the classroom. When the final bell rang, I could not get changed into my athletic gear fast enough! Sports was, and is, something I excel in and not just in terms of physical ability, but in the intellectual aspects of being a member of an athletic team. Although I went to play sport at the collegiate level, I made the difficult decision to stop playing because the messages I heard in high school were the same, but for some reason, cut deeper! Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I used the skills of tenacity, critical thinking, selfawareness, and self-confidence, all of which I learned and honed on the athletic field, to thumb my nose to my naysayers and pursue my dream of becoming an academic who works tirelessly to protect and support those with learning differences in the classroom, on the playing field, and on the global stage. It is my hope this chapter has stirred something in you reflect on your understanding of human rights, sports, and high school special education. Protecting, advocating, and developing equitable human rights is important work for all aspects of our global community, and it is my sincere hope you will follow my lead and work for lasting change for student-athletes who have the human right to play school sponsored extracurricular athletics. Go on, I dare you, on second thought, I triple dog dare you to enact change by demanding the law of the land related to special needs, the IDEA, is reauthorized promote equity for student-athletes from the first bell to the final whistle.

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Lang, M. (2022). Advancing children’s rights in sport: Coaching, childhood agency, and the participatory agenda. Sports Coaching Review, 11(1), 41–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/21640629.2021. 1990655 Lengyel, L. S., & Vanbergeijk, E. (2021). A brief history of special education: Milestones in the first 50 years. Pt. one of two. Exceptional Parent, 51(6), 25–29. http://corvette.salems tate.edu:2048/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=coo kie,ip,cpid&custid=ssc&db=ehh&AN=150718241&site=eds-live&scope=site Palmer, A. N., Elliott, W., & Cheatham, G. A. (2017). Effects of extracurricular activities on postsecondary completion for students with disabilities. Journal of Educational Research, 110(2), 151–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2015.1058221 Pisacone, J. (2022). Special education legislation: An overview of the stride toward inclusion. Journal of Student Affairs, 18. https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/journal-student-affairs Raffo, C., & Forbes, C. (2021). A critical examination of the educational policy discourse on/for school extra-curricular activities—A Deweyan perspective. Oxford Review of Education, 47(3), 301–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2020.1835625 Rapp, A., & Corral-Granados, A. (2021). Understanding inclusive education—A theoretical contribution from system theory and the constructionist perspective. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 1–17. Informa UK Limited. http://corvette.salemstate.edu:2048/login?url=https:// search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid&custid=ssc&db=eds air&AN=edsair.doi...........48dd643606da0823e83431933d65c86b&site=eds-live&scope=site Rodriquez, J., Lanser, A., Jacobs, H. E., Smith, A., & Ganguly, S. (2022). When the normative is formative: Parents’ perceptions of the impacts of inclusive sports programs. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(10889), 10889. https://doi.org/10. 3390/ijerph191710889 Ryba, T. V. (2008). Researching children in sport: Methodological reflections. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 20(3), 334–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200802056669 Sekhri, A. (2019). Participation in extracurricular activities: A boon for children with special needs. I-Manager’s Journal on Educational Psychology, 12(4), 42–53. https://doi.org/10.26634/jpsy. 12.4.15489 Shulruf, B. (2011). Do extra-curricular activities in schools improve educational outcomes? Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-010-9180-x Siperstein, G. N., McDowell, E. D., Jacobs, H. E., Stokes, J. E., & Cahn, A. L. (2019). Unified extracurricular activities as a pathway to social inclusion in high schools. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 124(6), 568–582. https://doi.org/10.1352/19447558-124.6.568 Stirling, A. E. (2016). Applying Kolb’s theory of experiential learning to coach education. Journal of Coaching Education, 6, 103–121. Human Kinetics. http://corvette.salemstate.edu:2048/ login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid& custid=ssc&db=edsair&AN=edsair.doi...........48f6256ae6ae8d3ff44ab61940969764&site= eds-live&scope=site Strum, P. (2014). We always tell our children they are Americans: Mendez v. Westminster and the beginning of the end of school segregation. Journal of Supreme Court History, 39(3), 307–328. http://corvette.salemstate.edu:2048/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct= true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid&custid=ssc&db=edshol&AN=edshol.hein.journals.jspcth39. 27&site=eds-live&scope=site UNESCO. (1994). The Salamanca statement and framework for action on special needs education. UNESCO. United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Vanbergeijk, E., & Lengyel, L. (2021a). Brief history of special education: Milestones in the first 50 years, Pt. two. Exceptional Parent, 51(7), 37–40. http://corvette.salemstate.edu:2048/login? url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid&custid= ssc&db=rzh&AN=151458084&site=eds-live&scope=site

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Vanbergeijk, E., & Lengyel, L. S. (2021b, July 1). A brief history of special education: Milestones in the first 50 years. The Exceptional Parent, 51(7), 37. http://corvette.salemstate.edu:2048/ login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid& custid=ssc&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.670417217&site=eds-live&scope=site Virtue, D. C. (2022). Exploring experiential learning processes in the context of an international school–university partnership. New Directions for Teaching & Learning, 2022(169), 99–108. https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.20485 Vittadini, G., Sturaro, C., & Folloni, G. (2022). Non-cognitive skills and cognitive skills to measure school efficiency. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 81, 101058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. seps.2021.101058 Winchester, G., Culver, D., & Camiré, M. (2013). Understanding how Ontario high school teachercoaches learn to coach. Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy, 18(4), 412–426. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/17408989.2012.690376 Wretman, C. J. (2017). School sports participation and academic achievement in middle and high school. Journal of the Society for Social Work & Research, 8(3), 399–420. https://doi.org/10. 1086/693117 Wright, P. W. D., & Wright, P. D. (2007). Wrightslaw: Special education law (2nd ed.). Harbor House Law Press. Yell, M. L., Losinski, M. L., & Katsiyannis, A. (2014). Students with disabilities participation in extracurricular athletics: School district obligations. Journal of Special Education Leadership, 27(2), 86–96. www.casecec.org Yell, M. L., Rogers, D., & Rogers, E. L. (1998, January 1). The legal history of special education: What a long, strange trip it’s been! Remedial and Special Education, 19(4), 219–228. https:// doi.org/10.1177/074193259801900405

Chapter 7

Governance in the Socio-Cultural Role of Sports Kwan Meng Lee and Jady Zaidi Hassim

Abstract Sports is known for its developmental and socio-cultural values. Most people are familiar with the elite, high performance, and professional dimensions of the sports ecosystem. Here the socio-cultural values involve extrinsic rewards as incentives where athletes are motivated by their high profile and material returns. However, there are also the intrinsic aspects of sports which involve various areas of human development such as personal, social, emotional, mental, and cultural values. Globally, this dimension expands to political and globalised sustainable developmental goals. Although the elite and professional dimensions of sports have generated economic and financial benefits for professional athletes, there is also a negative side to it, such as an excessive concern over material benefits. It is this unhealthy fixation on financial gain that opened the door to doping, cheating, corruption, fraud, and lifelong injuries that affect the physical development of the athletes. Recently, the uncontrolled emotional reaction of fans after losing a football match has resulted in a stampede causing death and serious injury to hundreds of spectators. However, these harmful excesses in sports can be addressed if there is better governance, legislative framework, education and understanding of the socio-cultural role of sports to support sports development. This chapter will examine the socio-cultural issues of sports and the governance of the sports bodies to propose its future direction towards the sustainability of sports imbibed with socio-cultural values. It will also determine what can be done to strengthen and improve the governance of sports by highlighting and advocating its true ethical and socio-cultural values. In doing so, it is hoped there will be a greater understanding of the whole spectrum of the sports ecosystem and a way so that sports can bring holistic development to all its stakeholders, from the The original version of this chapter was revised: Revised figures for Figs. 7.1 and 7.2 have been updated. The correction to this chapter is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_10 K. M. Lee (B) Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] J. Z. Hassim Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023, corrected publication 2023 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing (eds.), Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_7

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individual athletes to the industry as a whole and the social fabric of human society. Sports is first and foremost about humanity, and humanity is the basic tool to develop ethics and morality in every athlete’s developmental program. Keywords Governance · Socio-culture · Sports · Values · Development

7.1 Introduction Sports has been promoted for its role in the positive development of society, whether in global and sustainable development, youth development, community and societal development, or global peace. Sports has also become a strong contributor to a nation’s economy through its commercialisation and events as an industry in its own right which develops high-income athletes. However, that is only the positive dimension of sports. Its other socio-cultural dimension showcases the other, negative dimension of sports in the form of fraud, corruption, violence, hooliganism, doping, sexploitation, harassment, and abuse. In all, sports involves too many risk factors to fit them all on one list. This negative side of sports has developed for the sake of winning medals, titles, lucrative prize monies, and sponsorships, and these harmful socio-cultural factors need to be addressed and eliminated before the constructive and developmental side of sports can be showcased. Sports governance is, therefore, very important to ensure that each discipline meets its various positive, constructive and human developmental goals and serves the purpose it is meant to serve. For elite and professionally competitive sports, governance is to ensure that there is fair play in competition and that it is safe for everyone. In the cultural aspect, governance is different. According to Schmitt (2011), governance of a cultural object includes governance of its reproduction and production, its significance and representation to influence the importance of the individuals or groups. In this case, the latter are the athletes and other stakeholders in the fraternity of sports. This is also connected with the governance processes and concrete steering in respect of the cultural object such as sports. The sports ecosystem covers a wide spectrum that comprises many components. Sports is not a shallow and unidimensional system and very much unlike the way it is portrayed in the media. Sports is not only high-performance athletes, world championships, and commercialised global events; it also includes sports for the masses and physical fitness programmes at every level of society, from primary schoolkids to senior citizens. Sports as presented in the media is often reduced to a few hyped-up events for commercial and marketing reasons as well as personal and political interests. Corporate bodies who act as sponsors and advertisers focus on certain aspects of sports because this area helps generate profits and raises the economic profile of their companies. We do not deny the importance of these commercial, economic and business interests which support the promotion and funding of sports and its events; however, we are concerned of this area being over-emphasised, which creates a strong imbalance at the expense of its wider role in human development.

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Regrettably, the strong commercial interests vested in sports have eclipsed its vital socio-cultural role in human development. Another new dimension of sports is its virtual dimension in the form of eSport, eGames, and the like as a result of new social media technologies and platforms. Fans have started to share their views on sports figures and events on social media and discuss their team’s wins and losses online. Betting platforms are also available online, especially in professional football leagues and elite sports tournaments. The fans get a glimpse of the dark side of sports when they watch news on recent cases of violence, corruption, bribery, doping, sexual harassment, and overtrained athletes who sustain lifelong injuries; however, these are not topics that concern most fans. In fact, the broader issues faced by modern sports, including its socio-cultural and developmental dimensions, are seldom highlighted in the media and hardly acknowledged by the public. This chapter examines the more important dimensions of sports to open the eyes of sports aficionados, reveal its implications in the overall spectrum and ecosystem of sports, and propose a way in which they can be effectively addressed through governance, management, values, and ethics. Only a tiny fraction of sports concerns the winning of medals and titles at the elite levels and the impressive pay-outs at the professional levels, whereas the widest area of sports is concerned with human development at the individual, family, community, nation, and global levels. Micro development has to do with the individual development such as physical, mental, emotional, cultural, and intellectual development or local community development, while macro development happens at the national and international levels to promote national prestige, intercultural understanding, global peace, and international development such as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and economic development. The broad spectrum of sports goes beyond mere elite competitions and professional sports. Sports further extends to the sports industry, commercial product licensing and marketing, leisure and recreation, health, well-being, community development, education, culture, governance, humanitarian values, international relations, and global peace. It also includes various sciences such as physical sciences, engineering, social sciences, health sciences, psychology, economics and business, humanities, environmental sciences, and technologies. In short, sports is a multidisciplinary sector. Where governance is concerned, most competitive elite and professional sports already have their sport-specific structure of institutionalised governance and are equipped with detailed rules and regulations for competitions and events. However, the grey areas are in the socio-cultural area of sports where sports activities or events do not necessarily conform to stringent rules and regulations. Such sports include those in play, recreation, leisure pursuits, health and wellbeing, and personalised activities that can be both spontaneous and unregulated. Thus, the question that arises is whether these sports should also be ‘governed’ so that they contribute to the socio-cultural and developmental benefits of the sector. This question merits further examination and discussion.

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7.2 Sports It is not easy to define ‘sports’ as it can be defined in a broad or a narrow fashion (Mull et al., 2013). The practical meaning of sports can be interpreted socially or according to its association with physical assertion and performance measures (May, 2021). In this sense, sports include social as well as physical sciences. Generally speaking, the restrictive definition of sports is characterised by presenting the following elements: (a) competitive physical activity utilising specialised equipment and facilities; (b) quest for records and high performance; (c) institutional game demanding the demonstration of physical prowess; (d) requires skill and exertion; (e) organised and governed by definite, institutionalised rules; (f) determined by boundaries of time and space (Loy et al., 1978; Martin & Miller, 1999; Snyder & Spreitzer, 1989; Vanderzwagg, 1988; cited by Mull et al., 2013). Coakley (2011, in Mull et al., 2013) defined sports as “institutionalized, competitive activities that involve rigorous physical exertion of the use of relatively complex physical skills by participants motivated by personal enjoyment and personal rewards,” while Pitts et al. (1994, also cited by Mull et al., 2013) offered the broader definition of sports as “any activity, experience, or business enterprise focussed on fitness, recreation, athletics, or leisure.” A simpler, more concise definition was offered by Coakley (2021) who described sports as all types of “physical activities that involve challenges or competitive contests.” Coakley (1994, cited in Leonard, 1998) further determined following three variables: (a) type of activities; (b) structure in which these activities takes place; (c) the participants’ orientations. The Council of Europe Sports Charter defines sports as “all forms of physical activity, which, through casual or organised participation, aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming social relationships, or obtaining results in competition at all levels” (Hassim, 2018). Viewed from a wider perspective, sports also refers to physical activities that are entertaining, fun, pleasurable, exciting, thrilling, recreative, relaxation, playful, and games (Hassim, 2018). However, sports also has negative meanings that include gambling and betting, hunting, combat, violence with destructive outcomes, matchfixing, and lifelong injuries. Sports can be narrowly categorised as the activities of an elite group of professional athletes seeking excellence through competitions, tournaments, championships, and leagues to earn medals and titles; however, in the broader context it includes leisure, recreation, fitness, health, well-being, combat and contact sports such as martial arts and self-defence, paralympic activities and games for the physically and mentally challenged, traditional activities and games where national cultures and pride are projected, extreme activities and games for those seeking action-oriented challenges, and healthy activities for the whole community. However, to ensure that sports benefit the players, stakeholders, community, and nation there has to be proper governance. This is the reason for governing its socio-cultures being of utmost importance. Overall, sports has a broad spectrum and

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ecosystem of active and non-active players and an entire industry that contributes to the national economy, human productivity, happiness, well-being, social harmony, and nation-building. While most definitions of sports are related to its physical exertion nature, there are exceptions; there are now sports recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that are not physical such as chess and bridge. Stefani (2017) suggested categorising them as mind sports where there is competition with a set of rules for determining the winner, which requires intellectual prowess and skill. Further, with the new advances in technology a new form has emerged in the form of electronic sport or e-sports which is a new category of sports itself. It involves competition with a set of rules for determining the winner; however, it requires the player’s physical prowess and skill to move a virtual person or a virtual object. Stefani (2017) suggested four definitions for sports: sports (a competition with a set of rules for determining the winner, requiring physical prowess and skill; mind sports (require intellectual prowess and skill); physical sports (that requires physical prowess and skill to move the physical competitor and/or a physical object as required by the rules); and e-sports (similar to physical sports but virtual). From the etymological perspective, Leonard II (1998) pointed out that the word ‘sport’ is derived from the Latin root ‘desporto’ or ‘disport’ which means ‘to carry away’ or ‘to divert oneself’ (Delaney & Madigan, 2021). It also has the historical origin of ‘diversion from instrumental routines’ suggesting that it is also pursuit of recreation and leisure (Leonard II, 1998).

7.2.1 Spectrum of the Ecosystem of Sport We have conceptualised above that the full spectrum of sports is an ecosystem with a whole industry associated with it that comprises of a four-layer segment: (a) a core segment which includes sports activities and programs; (b) a support segment of the stakeholders who are on the field (i.e., competitors, fans, field officials and spectators) and off the field (i.e., officials, leaders, organisers, sponsors, agencies); (c) a sports industry and resource segment of facilities, human resources, services, sports merchandise and marketing, media and broadcasting, and sports engineering and sports technologies; (d) an augmented segment of governance, legislation, policy; management, sports culture, leadership, and administration supported by education (sports studies) and training and coaching. This ecosystem encompass the various sciences related to sports that have been mentioned earlier. However, this chapter focuses on the socio-cultural elements present in each segment. Sports has a whole ecosystem at its disposal which supports it, develops its industry, and decides its governance and regulatory procedures and protocols. At its core are play activities that developed over time and expanded into elite and professional levels, as depicted in the sports pyramid. Sports activities or events,

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such as tournaments, competitions, and professional leagues, comprise socio-cultural components that are associated with the different types of sports activities. These activities involve several stakeholders: (a) those directly involved and engaged with the activities on the field (e.g., athletes, players, competitors, spectators, officials); (b) indirect or non-field stakeholders (e.g., officials, sports leaders, organisers, sponsors, agencies, institutions) who are part of the support segment. The third segment includes the sports industry players in the form of various human resources, facilities, equipment, supply chain services as well as commercialised merchandise, media, sports engineering, and media technologies. The fourth outer segment represents governance, legislative, management, and education elements that strengthen and legitimise the sports activities and overall development. They comprise sports law, sports rules and regulations, regulatory bodies and agencies, and sports studies and education including physical, leisure, sports education, coaching and training.

7.2.2 Sports Pyramid The sports pyramid model depicts a general progressive human activity in sports participation in form of a continuum from foundational development to the excellence level according to sporting ability and competencies (Loughborough College, 2010). The sports pyramid can consist of either four or five levels. The excellence level includes athletes participating at elite competition and professional levels; however, it can also be subdivided and thus produce a five-level model. There are several interpretations or variants to this model. This study conceptualised a five-level model after reviewing the models proposed by Mull et al. (2013) and Woods (2016). The five-level sports pyramid model is associated with the first segment of the sports ecosystem as described above. It demonstrates how sports developed from (1) a foundation in children’s play to (2) sports and games that are recreational or as sport-for-all at the family and community level to (3) institutional sport and games at school level to (4) elite, high performance amateur sports in competitions and tournaments, and (5) professional sports. While the model illustrates how an individual athlete progresses from playing sports as a child to playing sports as an elite or professional athlete, it does not necessarily mean that this progression will be completed in every cases; admittedly, not every sports and recreation player reaches the summit of excellence, and only a very small number of players do. Most players will be content to participate for recreational and health purposes, while others choose to become passive spectators who support their player or team from the stands. Seen from a social viewpoint, children learn how to play as part of their physical and mental development, while adults participate in sports activities for fun, relaxation, entertainment. Sports can also a part of a family bonding activity or community, social program for recreation, fun, games or health and development. When the children enrol in school, they can be involved in organised sports activities and learn to

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be amateur sports athletes. Those who have a strong aptitude for sports and excel in school, local, regional and national sports competitions, they can progress to being full time athletes training for both national and international competitions and tournaments. At this point, the young adults are still considered as amateur athletes because they are supported by their institutions or national agencies. However, some of these amateur athletes can choose to be professionals and become full-time athletes. The socio-cultural elements will become part of their sports participation or engagements in the process.

7.2.3 Sports Culture as a Social Phenomena Sports culture as a social phenomenon is considered a systemic formative factor involving sport values and individual attitude towards sport and physical activity (Guo et al., 2022). It is argued that human physical culture emanates from intrinsic process of the cultural and educational potential, values, sports techniques accumulation of human experience to an individual sport and physical activity, discovery of human consciousness, physical culture, and activity (Guo et al., 2022). The structure of sports culture relates to personality and social values (Hughson, 2009). Guo et al. (2022) found that sports culture, besides being a body of culture, is also a psychological and social culture. Culture is a form of identity (Reicher, 2020). Therefore, sports culture is a holistic form of seeking both excellence and health. Korovin and Cemenoviq (2016) translated professional physical culture of personality using physical adaptation, cognitive-intellectual adaptation, and axiology. As such, the spirit of personality and value formation are fundamental to all the elements of activity in sports culture. This is because human relationships are at the heart of personality and the foundation of sport culture, which translate into the other elements of sports such as sports subjective and universal structure of organising competitions with a clear meaning (Guo et al., 2022).

7.2.4 Socio-Culture in Sports All these sports categories include the multi-dimensionality of physical and social sciences that reflect its sociological and cultural elements that form a distinct socioculture. The integration of the social and cultural contexts of sports occurs at the sub-disciplinary level. Based on Coakley’s (2021) concept of sociology, the sociology of sports can be interpreted as the study of sports based on the social worlds that people in sports create, maintain and change through their relationships with each other. Therefore, sports culture is the sum of various shared ways of life and shared understandings that people develop as they live together. It is the values, ceremonies and way of life that is characteristic of sports within their particular cultural setting (Jarvie, 2006)

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that includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom and other capabilities and habits acquired by all members of society (Hassim, 2018). The sociology of sports is also concerned with social theories that include the element of culture, hence, socio-culture. However, in its broad scope, it is the cultural element that encultures sports through active participation by athletes, coaches, sports leaders, event organisers, representatives from the sports industry and the education sector as well as fans and spectators as passive participants. These types of participation and engagement with sports can have their own distinctive culture, depending on how culture is interpreted in this context. Sports culture “can mean everything we learn and do that has sources in sports” (Hassim, 2018). Leonard II (1998) characterised sports culture as material culture or tangible objects such as sports facilities, arenas, stadiums, equipment, attires as well as nonmaterial or ideational culture which are the symbols, attitudes, beliefs, language, values, and norms related to sports. In the Malaysian Sports Culture Index 2020 the Institute for Youth Research Malaysia (IYRES) characterised sporting culture in the context of sports activities, exercise and active recreational activities that have become practices and routines towards an active, fit, competitive, and self-initiated lifestyle. Therefore, the role of socio-culture in sports can be about the integration of cultural norms, values, beliefs, customs, language, symbols, attitudes in the sociological practices of sports and their athletes and stakeholders, for instance, within the broad ecosystem of sports and its development continuum from the foundation level to the professional and elite levels. It also to encompass the various, broad sociological issues in the sporting world and their fraternity. Sports at the elite and professional levels are highly publicised in the media, and its governance is well articulated by the various sports governance bodies through rules and regulations with well-defined boundaries and perimeters that are tangible and quantifiable. The socio-cultural dimension of sports is, however, less known nor understood, which equally applies to its role in the sports spectrum and ecosystem. Its governance is more opaque, intangible, and subjective. Hence, it is important to find ways in which the socio-cultural role of sports can be better addressed through governance and instilling positive values and ethical practices, so that these negative elements in sports can be dealt with in a constructive manner while enhancing the socio-cultural values of sports. We would like to promote this important socio-cultural role of sports which has been largely ignored. Sports should be understood in its totality and in due consideration of its holistic ecosystem, rather than focusing on one single aspect. Moreover, sports has also its micro- and macro-development values, ranging from the individual to the community and nation to support global efforts for world peace. The elite and professional levels of sports cannot be sustained unless the socio-cultural dimension of sports is supported and strengthened. This approach can serve as a strong foundation for sports development.

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7.2.5 Socio-Culture in the Sports Ecosystem and Sports Pyramid Let us now briefly examine where the socio-cultural elements are situated in the sports ecosystem (Fig. 7.1) while considering its four segments of sports, support, sports industry and resources, and governance and education. The sports segment comprises sports together with its recreational component activities and events. Its socio-cultural elements are found within the nature, type and form of these activities which determine the socio-cultural outcomes and impact of each activity or the sports ‘product’. Primarily, the socio-cultural elements are dominant at the foundation level, such as children’s play activities, family, and community sports activities. At this level the right sports culture can be instilled in terms of developing and appreciating basic competencies and skills as part of fun and enjoyment. At the performance level represented by institutional sport and games the young participants learn to build their sports competencies through competitions and tournaments. At this level learning skills are developed and the deeper sports culture is inculcated through recreational values. At this stage the participants have the option to decide whether they want to be follow the social and developmental pathway or

Fig. 7.1 Socio-cultural areas in the sport ecosystem

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proceed to the elite and professional levels. If they chose the latter, their involvement will entail full-time training, commitment, and participation at national and international competitions or tournaments; however, they will still be considered amateurs. A few of them will decide to choose sports as their professional career and try to reach the peak of the sports pyramid. At this stage, the socio-cultural role of sports will involve stronger economic and extrinsic interests with a focus on monetary benefits such as earning prize monies, sponsorships, merchandising, rather than to manifest the socio-cultural values of sports. However, if the young participants focus on the social benefits of sports, such as recreation, the socio-cultural role will focus on intrinsic and developmental values, health, well-being, and self-satisfaction. In this recreational dimension of sports, winning and pursuit of sporting excellence is considered less important; what is more important are the intrinsic values of sports. It is here that the socio-cultural role of sports plays a more prominent role. The support segment in the sports ecosystem involves the various stakeholders associated with the sports activity and event segment. They are those on the field directly supporting the athletes and players in the person of coaches, trainers, field officials, fans, and spectators as well as those active off the field who engage with the athletes indirectly, such as sports officials, leaders, event organisers, sponsors, and agency officials overseeing the events. This is where some of the negative sociocultural issues comes about in the quest for winning championships and monetary benefits. The third augmented segment are those directly involved in the sports industry such as facility providers, equipment and attire suppliers, supply chain service providers as well as health, nutrition, and performance enhancement product suppliers. This segment also comprises those engaged in the commercialisation of sports through merchandise and product promotions. Equally important are other supporting industries such as media and broadcasting agencies, social media platforms and influencers, sport tourism players, and technical engineering personnel who develop new technological tools and equipment for athletes and facilities. This segment is where negative socio-cultural issues have emerged in the sporting industry. The fourth outermost segment in the sports ecosystem concerns the sports governance and is related to laws and regulations, management, sports for sustainable development, policies, renewal justice. Equally important is the sports education component which consists of all those who develop human resources in sports, from the athletes and players to the officials, leaders, and technical personnel. The sports educators play a major role in the socio-cultural development of sports. They are specialists in physical recreation, sports studies, sports education, leisure and recreational educators as well as those who develop the coaches and trainers.

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7.3 Sociological Issues in the Sports Ecosystem and Sports Pyramid 7.3.1 Socio-Cultural Issues in the Sports Pyramid Foundation Learning to play is the foundation of sports development where the basic sporting skills are learned and experienced (Loughborough College, 2010). It forms the base in the sports pyramid as childhood physical activity (Woods, 2016). This foundation level primarily focuses on the play element of sports and not so much on performance. Children explore sports through play in the form of any physical activity that is fun and participatory, often unstructured and free from adult direction, all freely chosen for pleasure (UNICEF, 2004). Play, according to Mull et al. (2013) involves a person’s state of mind and emotions, abilities, and expectations. Play is exploration, self-expression, dreaming and pretending (Woods, 2016). “Play is freely chosen, personally directed, intrinsically motivated behaviour that actively engages the child” (Torkildsen, 2005). It is where the child acquires a range of skills, learns to deal with new situations, and develops physical, intellectual, emotional, creative and social ability, the skill of give-and-take and to live harmoniously with others (Torkildsen, 2005). However, play is not confined to childhood either; adults also play. It is the fun component of sport together with games (Torkildsen, 2005; Woods, 2016). Torkildsen (2005) pointed out that there are several sociological classical theories associated with play: surplus energy (Schiller, 1965); instinct theory of play, preparation for life (Groos, 1901); recapitulation (Stanley-Hall, 1904); relaxation (Patrick, 1916). These theories suggest that playful activity was invented by the need to find compensating outlets to allow relaxation and recuperation. Torkildsen (2005) also cited other related modern twentieth-century ideas such as generalisation and compensation, catharsis (Berkowitz & Green, 1962; Feshbach, 1956), psychoanalysis (Erikson, 1950; Sigmund Freud, 1974; Walker, 1933), play therapy (Goleman, 1955; Klein, 1955; Purdy, 1989), intellectual development (Hutt, 2001; Piaget, 1962), stimulus response (Thorndike et al., citing Ellis, 1973), play, games and socialisation (Roberts & Sutton-Smith, 1962), play as self-justification (Huizinga, 1955), and socio-cultural theory (Caillois, 1961). Nevertheless, Torkildsen (2005) pointed out that play is meant for wholesome or holistic development, social education and learning, physical development, motor skills and creativity, and social skills, all of which shape human behaviour. According to UNICEF (2004), play gives the children the stimulation and physical activity they need to develop their brains for future learning where through play the children learn to explore, invent, and create; they also develop social skills and ways of thinking. In this way, they learn to deal with their emotions, improve their physical abilities, discover their own selves, and explore their own capabilities. This child’s

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play forms a foundation for life-long learning and develop a sense of the importance of participation in a fun way. From the sport socio-cultural perspective issues, play can be associated with youth sport, sporting behaviour, development through sport, social trend and social changes, inculcation of sport lifestyles, and the culture of participation.

Participation In the sports pyramid, participation involves sports in the recreational, games, sportfor-all, and leisure sport contexts. The following section illustrates the role of participation in various sports contexts. Recreational sports are those physically active leisure activities that are more organised than play and are freely chosen (UNICEF, 2004) and pleasureful (Torkildsen, 2005). Thus, the expected participation outcomes are left to the individual (Mull et al., 2013). In addition, based on Kraus and Bates (1957, in Edginton et al., 2003; Torkildsen, 2005), sports in the recreation context is part of organised community programmes and must be designed to achieve constructive goals. From the sociological context, recreation is wholesomeness, is a re-creation for fun, relaxation and pleasure, is experience linking to activity, leads to health and well-being in social cohesion theory (Kraus, 1999, cited in Torkildsen, 2005), and promotes ‘wholeness of mind, body and spirit’ for personal and social benefits. Among its social byproducts, recreation leads to learning, better health, and less delinquency (Sessoms, 1984, in Edginton et al., 2003). Other social benefits of recreation include intellectual, physical, and social growth while providing standards of morality and healthy and constructive experience (Weiskopf, 1982, in Edginton et al., 2003). Recreation is also characterised by promoting teamwork, shared hardship, love, friendship and group identification, developing competencies and creativity, personal development, and improved self-image (Gray, 1980, in Torkildsen, 2005). Leisure sports are another social and developmental context of sports. They are free-form, voluntary and non-competitive activities which aim to regulate the mental state of people (Min & Jin, 2010). In their view, leisure sports are not specific sports but social existence sports that can be divided into four types: sports recreational activities, sports fitness, sports adventure activities, and sports social activities. Pomohaci and Sopa (2018) found that leisure sports contribute to living a healthy physical and psycho-social lifestyle, preventing chronic illness, and maintaining health and physical fitness, in addition to increasing socialisation, communication, and positive selfimage. Leisure sports create an opportunity for communication and support group integration and improving physical and aesthetic parameters. These sports activities have a major impact on personal and social development and add substantially to the quality of life (Iulian-Doru & Maria, 2013). Sport-for-all comprises community-based activities with the aim to support enjoyment in playing sports, developing basic sports skills, and for health benefits. The focus is on participation and pleasure in playing sport, rather than winning competitions (Yusof, 2019). The emphasis is on bringing people together and promoting

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social interaction among the participants and people with similar interests while reaping health benefits and strengthening unity and national integration. Sport-forall also contributes to educational and academic achievements and builds positive social character. Sports activity in game form have been described by Mull et al. (2013) as having format, structure, and props or equipment. Game form requires rules and regulations, strategies, and facilities. The rules and regulations set the boundaries that control the action. A game has to be characterised by its purpose of determining a winner, whether in the form of a physical or mental effort. It is governed by formal or informal rules where participants oppose each other to achieve a specific goal (Leonard II, 1998). At the participation stage, the related socio-cultural issues include youth sports, intercollegiate sports, sporting behaviour, development through sports, social trends, social changes, technology in sports, sports and socialisation, barriers to participation, gender and minority equity, and sports and lifestyles.

Performance This is the stage where athletes and players begin to develop their sport-specific skills and demonstrate them by competing in school, community, regional and state level competitions. The competition can also happen at collegiate or institutional levels such as intramural or recreational sport events. However, most of the performance stage will be in the context of youth sports. Youth sports can serve two purposeful pathways: (1) advancing at competitive levels and events; (2) for personal development and growth or sport for development. The first pathway entails competition and winning but also inculcates the culture and values of a winning mindset for all other aspects of life. The motivational approach here is extrinsic versus intrinsic rewards. The second pathway is diametrically opposed to the first pathway where intrinsic satisfaction, development, and growth are more important than winning or losing. In the second pathway of youth development, youth sports programs are an avenue to foster positive youth development (Fraser-Thomas et al., 2005). Positive youth development is about tapping into the assets of the youth and help reduce behavioural problems while at the same time focusing on the further development of the five C’s: competence, confidence, character, connections, and compassion. Some have added contribution as the sixth element. Through sports development the youth are shown a way to lead a healthy, productive, and satisfying life which they can bring forward into adulthood (Holt & Neely, 2011). In this socio-cultural context, the issues of concern are sporting behaviour, gender and identity issues, deviance and sports, development through sports, sporting behaviour, and social changes through sports.

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Excellence When athletes perform well and win medals and titles, they move towards the elite, excellence, or professional stage. Excellence is about making the choice to excel in everything in life pushing the individual potential to its limits (Orlick, 2008). The excellence stage in sports can be further categorised into amateur and professional sports. While both amateur and professional athletes and players seek to excel, the sports participation of the amateur is still in the improvement phase and not financially sustainable unlike that of a professional who earns a living through their sporting activity. Nevertheless, both groups have to excel to win titles and medals and train full-time to meet those standards. In the sociological field, this is where many socio-cultural issues arise due to its highly competitive environment to win and to earn. The negative issues include doping, match rigging and fixing, cheating, betting and gambling, overtraining, and bribery and corruption among all the stakeholders, from the athletes to the officials,

Fig. 7.2 Socio-cultural issues of sports development in the sport pyramid. Source Adapted from Woods (2016)

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coaches, leaders, spectators, sponsors, marketers, event bidders and organisers, and political leaders. In addition, there are also gender issues of transgenders competing in the opposite gender categories, sexual harassment and exploitation of female athletes, violence by players and fans, risk management issues, and the like. (Figure 7.2 illustrates the sport pyramid levels in relation to socio-cultural issues)

7.3.2 Socio-Culture in the Sports Ecosystem If you examine the four segments of the sport ecosystem (Fig. 7.1), the sociocultural issues occur primarily across the three inner segments and are addressed in the fourth, outer segment of governance and education. Governance provides the management and administrative policies, procedures and framework for the sports industry to thrive, develop and grow; however, education is equally important. The governance framework provides the external or extrinsic measures to address the issues concerned, while the educational framework instils and inculcates the intrinsic values and culture of sport. By combining both extrinsic and intrinsic measures, sport will develop and grow positively, developmentally, and constructively, as both governance and education support the socio-cultural role of sports as development.

7.4 Governance of Sports 7.4.1 Governance The purpose of governance is to provide direction, leadership, and control and to oversee management to organisations in their day-to-day operations (Commun ity.net). It is also to deliver strategic plans for managing the organisation to administer the management and functioning of the organisation through determining its policy and strategy, appointing the top executive managers, and overseeing the overall performance of the organisation (Bhandari, n.d.). Hence, the discussion of governance in sports must include its governing bodies regulated by its constitution and rules, where the board of governance knows its roles and responsibilities to function effectively in strategic planning, policy, and development (Hassim, 2018). However, governance in sports is not only about governing the sports organisation but also governing the participation opportunities, establishing and enforcing policies, control and standardise competitions, and acknowledging the accomplishments of athletes (Coakley, 2021), which goes down to the international and national sports bodies that oversee and enforce sports. Most of these regulations have to do with ensuring fairness and safety, protecting human rights, maintaining health and fitness, promoting the recognition and prestige of the nations, promoting nation building and national identity, reaffirming political ideology, increasing support for political leaders and government, facilitating economic and social development, and dealing with critical issues in government involvement in sports (Coakley, 2021; Delaney & Madigan, 2021).

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Governance in competitive elite and professional sports already have policies, rules and regulations in place that have been formulated by international sports federations and government agencies. For these elite competitions, the issues are tangible, straightforward, and measurable. On the other hand, the issues of governance are more challenging considering that the socio-cultural elements are less tangible, subjective, and individualistic. Yet, some norms or procedures still need to be established or formulated directly or indirectly to ensure that they are constructive and lead to positive outcomes, which makes it a grey area.

7.4.2 Socio-Culture in Sports Governance Structure At the higher level, where sports becomes a professional activity, there come with it leagues and competitions. This structure creates exclusion and accumulation of capital resulting in friction. The structure becomes more complicated, and the law becomes more complex. Everything becomes strict governance, while the fun and entertainment part of sports are eroded. However, culture plays an import mediating role in influencing individual actors and institutional routes through the societal structure. This is because culture is the language of thinking, feeling, believing, valuing, and acting that can be used to identify an individual within a complex social organisation (Gurn, 2015). Culture is productive and structures social interactions by serving as a kind of ideological pathway. This continues to shape social expectations, behaviour and interactions, and interpretation of phenomena (Gurn, 2015). Hence, it can be argued that culture creates cohesion and continuity while mitigating the structure of exclusion and inclusion. Sport as a social policy is a course of action beneficial to the larger society. It recognises the fundamental rights of people to participate in sports, especially the marginalised groups, to promote equal opportunities and social welfare for the lessprivileged (Sportanddev, 2021). Hence, access to sport is a universal human right enshrined by the UN Declaration of the Rights of a Child (United Nations, 1959), the International Charter of Physical Education and Sport (UNESCO, 2019), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1990), the Olympic Charter (Olympic Review, 1998), and the Geneva Conventions (1949), among many other international, regional, and national commitments. Despite these commitments, the right to sport is often referred to as “the forgotten right” (United Nations, 2005), and policymakers need to ensure this is not the case. Sport as a direct culture relates to sports behaviours to achieve measurable results of development or the maintenance of physical efficiency. Here, achievement does not matter as much as providing people with an adaptation to reduce the ill-effects of the modern sedentary life (Krawczyk, 2016). It entails a comprehensive plan for human development through combining recreation and autoreactive aims. Similarly, Grupe (1994) argues that Olympism is and should be grounded on the spirit of overall harmony rather than strict body exercise. It should be the essence of a distinct culture of the body. Quoting Carl Dem (Grupe, 1994, p. 40), he explains that the road to high performance is important as it deals with goal-setting and success alone where sport

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culture is an expression of a unique, uniform, and homogenous idea (Heinemann, 2007). It is about voluntary, self-determined and rule-guided activity (Lenk, 1983). Early sport activities projected the reality of sports culture where people live more naturally and freely, enjoin nature and companionship, experience themselves in movement, play, performance, and competition (Krawczyk, 2016). Today, however, this traditional sporting culture is quickly fading and has been replaced by ‘entertainment sport culture’, ‘fun sport culture’ as well as ‘competitive sport culture’ (Grupe, 1994, p. 51). This modern form of competitive sports suggests the exploitation of human limits within strict rules in a way that not everything that is possible is also permissible. Sports culture can be interpreted within the organisational governance structure that stresses acceptable norms and values surrounding sport organisations, or in other words the expectations on sport organisations and sporting activities (Dowling et al., 2018). This organisational governance structure works in relation to leadership and management as well as good governance. De Dycker (2019) argues that good governance is an element of sports governance. As such, sports governance should maintain sport culture to project good governance. To minimise unethical behaviour like the recent high-profile corruption scandals in sports organisations due to the complexity of the current sports governance structure, it is necessary to restore public trust and maintain autonomy. Good governance principles of transparency, integrity, control, accountability, or democracy are the key and must be practiced and sustained by ISOs (Mrkonjic, 2016, 2021). This means that an acceptable and practicable good governance code or standard must be adopted, which should spread across all sports organisations from the top layer to the bottom layer. Similarly, sport must be translated as a way of life and educated in like manner from the grassroots so that the ‘spirit of sports’ can be inculcated and practiced by all and become a culture for sports professionals in the long-run. Sports governance structure requires an effective set of good governance codes, standards and principles that all-encompassing and satisfies all needs, from the top to the bottom. Mrkonjic (2016) reviews the nine sets of good governance principles and sports indicators published by the ISOs, intergovernmental organisations, researchers, and NGOs and proposes a criterion of good governance to include enforcement, scope, operationalisation, structure, outreach and implementation. According to the Council of Europe (2005), good governance is “a complex network of policy measures and private regulations used to promote integrity in the management of the core values of sport such as democratic, ethical, efficient and accountable sports activities” (European Parliament, 2000; Mrkonjic, 2021). Hence, there is a need for a democratic structure, professional standard, appropriate codes and ethical procedure for conflict resolution, transparency and accountability in decision-making process and financial operations, gender equality and solidarity as well as fairness in dealing with members. All of these elements are the key good governance principles (Thompson et al., 2022) that project the socio-culture of sport governance structure. Good governance should lay more emphasis on diversity because sport culture holds its charm and richness in diversity, rather than dullness and monotony (Grupe,

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1994). Therefore, with diversity, the old and modern values of peace, tolerance, understanding, and internationalism would coincide producing a standard for a viable sports culture. To revert to sports culture, good governance must inculcate the dissemination of sports culture from the grassroots. It is argued that the best channels of dissemination of sport culture are through school education, mass fitness activity, sport competition dissemination, modern tourism, and tangible cultural heritage protection (He & Tian, 2022). This view is supported by Luo (2022) and Chen (2022) who argue that dissemination through school helps to form school sports by forming an information environment that relies on the participation of sporting activities. Therefore, sport governance structure must be more humane and less competitive. Mrkonjic (2016) argues that ISOs have evolved due to multidimensionality and permeability of the system which subjected their daily activities, directly or indirectly, to good governance recommendations. However, imposing a universal prescription of sports governance from the top makes it ineffective and inappropriate because organisational expression, political, and cultural priorities at the local level are increasingly neglected (Ghadami & Henry, 2015). Similarly, virtues of control mechanisms such as audit, compliance committee, risk management, and regulation recommendation are usually not adapted to smaller sports organisations because these models are not cost effective and usually adapted from the corporate sector (Bernasconi et al., 2012; Mrkonjic, 2021). Furthermore, the complex nature of the international sports system makes the enforcement of a tailored approach impracticable. This is because this approach stresses particularism, while it undermines a harmonised and systematic monitoring and evaluation process from the top by an independent body to thrive (Mrkonjic, 2016, 2021). Regulations are placed on the sport, rather than the organisation and business activities it is engaged in, such as sponsorship, media rights, marketing, and merchandising, which means that there is no shareholder equivalent to hold the organisation to account (GoodCorporation, 2016). Ethics committees focus on the behaviour of players and are prepared to identify and sanction misconduct within the governing body. However, when the role of ethics and values is undermined, and the role of competition is magnified, the influence of such committees is rather weak. A good example is WADA V Nur Jannah and others CAS 2012/A/2791. In this case, it was clear that the issue of ethics, values and integrity was disregarded for various reasons. First, the athletes were shielded to focus on winning at all costs, without considering fair play, humanity, and spirit of sports. Secondly, after the deed was exposed, the highest governing body tried to protect its own by giving light sanction to other violators without duly investigating its involved officers. This case revealed the body’s disregard for integrity and good governance on transparency and accountability. It also buttresses the fact that the ethics committee championed the players’ interests and had no intention to investigate their officers or hold them accountable for their violations. Thus, ethics and human values are traded for money. Therefore, a set of principles for good governance that incorporate sport culture as an integral part of its system should be adopted and implemented through legislative requirements rather than recommendations. Legislative requirements are more active and potent measures than recommendations which are more likely to be ignored.

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7.4.3 Legislation and Policies That Promote Sports Socio-Culture Several sports regulations, policies and conventions exist that serve as code of conduct for sport organisations. Most of these codes of conduct direct the affairs of sport organisations. Due to their complexity, rules and regulations must be in place to guide their activities and safeguard the spirit of sports, protect sports integrity, and ensure that sports activities are conducted with transparency and accountability. In this section, some regulations touching on sports culture, sports for development, and the need for good governance are discussed. The conclusion is that the focus of sports governance should shift from being strictly business-oriented to projecting sports culture. a. Federation Internationale du Sport pour Tous (FISpT)—The International Sport-For-All Federation emphasises the aspect of sports for development and cultural enrichment and considers sports’ educational significance and its role in improving the quality of life of citizens irrespective of age, sex, or status. In respect of the national traditions and with the firm intention not to enter into competition with national or international federations of Olympic sports, FISpT wishes to contribute to their furtherance by rousing the interest of the wider public in various physical sports activities (FISpT, 2022). FISpT also recognises the right to sports as a universal human right alongside other charters like the United Nation Charter and the International Charter on P.E.S. Its efforts are dedicated to promote sport-for-all, sports as a human right, and sports for education. b. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)—The WADA code establishes that antidoping programs seeks to preserve the intrinsic value or ‘spirit’ of sports and the essence of Olympism, the pursuit of human excellence through a dedicated perfection of natural talents. The code further states that the spirit of sports is the celebration of the human spirit, body and mind reflected in values in and through sports with reference to ethics, fair play and honesty, health, excellence in performance, character and education, fun and joy, teamwork, dedication and commitment, respect for rules and laws, respect for self and others, courage, community, and solidarity (WADA, 2021). Similarly, Art. 18 WADC sets the basic principle and primary goal of education for doping-free sports to preserve the spirit of sports with a focus on prevention. Here, WADA sets the course for a universal sports culture that sport organisations should develop and raise awareness among the public. c. United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (Declaration of Berlin, 2013)—This declaration was adopted in the 5th International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport’s (MINEPS V) framework in May 2013. It stresses access to sports as a fundamental right to all, calls for the promotion of investment in physical education and sports programmes, and the need to preserve sports integrity. Several of its recommendations emphasise on good governance to achieve its objectives

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(Mrkonjic, 2021; WADA, 2021). The Berlin Declaration sees sports as a fundamental right for everyone, meaning that everyone has a right to participate in sports freely and engage in sporting activities without restriction, thus invariably highlighting the element of sports culture. Council of Europe 2018—As the first intergovernmental organisation to underscore the significance of sports governance, the Council of Europe promotes sports as a means for participation, health, social and ethic integration (CM/ Rec (2005)8) (CM/Rec(2015)2). Besides its emphasis on good governance and the development of good governance principles in its Resolution No. 1 adopted in 2014 at the 10th Conference of Europeans Ministers Responsible for Sports (Mrkonjic, 2016). Therefore, good governance principles must be integrated into sports policies and practices at the national level and state levels. IOCs Basic Principles of Good Governance of the Olympic and Sports Movement (BUPs) 2008—The fundamental principles of Olympism and core roles of IOC are supporting good governance principles, promote ethics in sports as well as youth education through sports while making efforts to inculcate the spirit of fair play and a violence-free system (IOC, 2008, p. 14). The vision and mission of BUPs are like the principles of good governance in the Council of Europe 2005 and the Berlin Declaration 2013 focusing on developing a structure that ensures a harmonious relationship with the government while enjoying autonomy and sports for education. International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA)—In its 2012 guidelines good governance is defined as “the process by which the board sets strategic direction and priorities, set policies ad management, performance expectations, characterizes and manages risks, and monitors and evaluates organizational achievements in order to exercise its accountability to the organization and owners” (ISCA, 2013, p. 12). Its suggestions for transparency, accountability, stakeholder inclusion, and democracy mean that its provisions align with earlier sport organisation regulations and policies for a robust sport governance through sports development and sports culture. EU Expert Group on Good Governance—By its deliverable 2: Principles of Good Governance in Sports (2013), good governance is broadly defined as “the framework and culture within which a sports body sets policy, delivers its strategic objectives, engages with stakeholders, monitors performance, evaluates and manages risk and reports to its constituents on its activities and progress including the delivery of effective, sustainable and proportionate sport policy and regulations” (EC, 2018, p. 5). These sets of principles are expected to be voluntarily embraced by all sports movements because good governance principles that are disregarded and not implemented by sports organisations threaten their autonomy (Mrkonjic, 2016, 2021). Unlike other policies and regulations, this regulation considers good governance as a framework and requires its inculcation as culture; therefore, good governance principles are necessary for the survival of sports.

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Unfortunately, the policies governing the international sports level are not clear. This is because international foreign policies pursue a particular country’s national interest. As they include rules, conventions, treaties, action plans and commitments for each country, sport federations or other bodies in different locations work together on terms. These policies may or may not be legally binding. Examples include the UNESCOs Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS) and the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Sport-for- Development and Peace Unit (Sportanddev, 2021) are some examples.

7.5 Governance Through Enculturation 7.5.1 Inculcation of Values and Ethics in Sports Governance and management of elite, high performance, and professional sports already have set rules and regulations to ensure fairness in determining the winners and their economic returns for the stakeholders and athletes. However, in the socioculture of sports this is a grey area where rules and regulations are concerned. This highly subjective and intangible area the governance is personalised according to the experience of the athletes or participants, and even that of the fans and critics. This is something that cannot be generalised or universally applied through rules and regulations, as it has no clear boundaries. Therefore, the question that arises is how to address those issues to ensure its integrity, accountability, and benefits to the individuals. The main distinction between elite or performance sports governed by rigid rules and regulations and socio-cultural and development-based sports is closely tied to enforcement. Elite sports can be enforced, while the latter requires education and enculturation of values and ethics (see Table 7.1). For instance, a universal sporting culture must be established and developed from a young age so that the new generation of athletes and players learn to appreciate what sports is or should be all about and how it can benefit them. First and foremost, sports should start as an activity that is fun, educational, entertaining, and enjoyable, something that contributes to knowledge; and develop skills together with passion, love, adventure, challenge and commitment, excitement and excellence, and instils selfesteem and self-actualisation (forming the acronym “P.L.A.C.E.S.”) (Yusof et al., 2015). Hofstede et al. (2010) pointed out that core values are learned during childhood and later translated into positive assets, and that recreational activities can be linked to these developmental assets (Witt & Caldwell, 2010). Hence, there is the question of whether standardised rules and regulations that are rigid and tangible and easily measured can be applied directly in such intangible sports activities because the framework and boundaries are flexible to adapt to the individual needs. Further, governance can be approached indirectly through education and guiding policies that allow for flexibility and adaptability and can in this way contribute to positive developmental outcomes.

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Table 7.1 Governance in the two dimensions of sport The two dimensions of sport Elite and professional high performance context of sport

Socio-cultural and developmental context of sport

Governance (Extrinsic measures)

Governance (Intrinsic measures)

Elements: Versus • Governing bodies • Legislations • Rules and regulations • Set parameters • Set practices • For fair play, clean and safe sport purposes • Tangible outcomes • Winning medal, trophies, titles, financial rewards • Through physical education • Train through Coaching • Enforceable • Externally-regulated

Elements: • Sports associations • Flexible rules and regulations • Adaptable framework • For fun, recreation, wellbeing • Developmental purposes • Behavioural-based • Intangible outcomes • For development and growth • Education through sports and leisure • Mentoring • Empowerment • Self-regulated

Foundational development for governance Inculcation of sports and cultural values through play, recreation-based activities and education

The governance of these intangible and subjective areas of sports cannot be directly regulated through rules and regulations by a governing body; it has to be governed indirectly through the quality and delivery of sport activities. For instance, in positive youth development, there are measures such as quantitative assessment to determine the positive changes among the youth where its criteria have to be predefined and set before it can be assessed through its sports activity (MacDonald & McIsaac, 2016). In sport-for-development, Coalter (2016) suggested that generic measures have to be explored and the characteristics of those variables determined first. The data from the measurements of those evaluations can then be used to determine whether there is impact from those sports programmes. Hence, these examples suggest that governance should not be based on rules and regulations on the sport, but on predetermined criteria of measures for positive changes. Danish et al. (2006) pointed out that sports participation is significant in the adolescents’ development of their identity, self-esteem, and competence; however, indirect governance comes through forum, structured test for learning the skills associated with character values such as responsibility, conformity, persistence, risk-taking, courage, and self-control. The study pointed out that being on the sports field or court does not contribute to adolescent development, rather it is the act of experiencing sports that facilitates adolescent development. In other words, the critical factor is not the mere participation in a sport but the individual’s experience of participating in that sport that is the critical factor. The study suggested that it is the type of leadership and relationship with coaches and peers that acts as a major determinant in the youth sports experience. In such situations, sports cannot be governed

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directly; however, the outcomes can be governed indirectly through the leadership and relationship of the sport experience that is facilitated by coaches and peers. The study completed by Mahoney and Stattin (2006) as cited by Danish et al. (2006) found that structured youth activities that prevent health-compromising behaviours can prevent negative outcomes in sports. Among the structures they suggested factors that emphasise on skill-building that increases complexity and challenge which require attention, regular participation schedules, being rule-guided, adult supervision, and providing feedback as well as connecting with competent peers and adults while creating opportunities where the adolescent participants feel competent and accepted. In this context, supervision is not about control but monitoring, facilitating, coaching, and supporting the players through self-reflection, practice, and learning opportunities with self-assessment for quality assurance (Belton, 2012; Seneviratne et al., 2017; Tierney, 2011). Hence, governance could be focused on those interactions and factors that can lead to positive outcomes. Such examples, therefore, suggest that governance is not to be directed at the sports activity through its rules and regulations but instead at other structural factors that can lead the sports participation to positive developmental outcomes. In relation to these socio-cultural behavioural issues governance is not about rigid rules and regulations, but rather about the facilitation and delivery of the sports activities.

7.6 Conclusion: Establishing Governance and Sports Socio-Culture Through Education The Declaration on the Rights of the Child 1959 is the first international legislation linking physical activity and education. This was followed by the International Charter of Physical Education and Sport 1978 which declared access to physical education a fundamental right. In 1989, the Convention on the Rights of Child enshrined children’s rights to play and became the most widely ratified international human rights instrument. The child’s right to play and sports was then developed further in subsequent documents emphasising on the importance of sports as a human right concern. A child’s right to play and the environment entails recognising play and physical activity as the basic right of all children, which should not be denied to any child (Rodesiler, 2021). Furthermore, the direction of sports developed from being a right to its role as a lifelong skill in physical education (Sportanddev, 2021). The UNESCO World-wide Survey of School Physical Education found that most countries make physical education in schools as part of its legal requirements (UNESCO, 2015). To reinforce the implementation of physical education in national policies, UNESCO established the Quality Physical Education Guidelines for Policymakers (UNESCO, 2015). Similarly, developing a comprehensive vision of inclusive access to all to sports, physical education and physical activity were the first policy areas of the 2017 Kazan Action Plan (UNESCO, 2017). Sports education should include campaign to help parents, coaches, school professionals, and healthcare providers

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to improve the recognition of sports for health and academic performance (Di Lu & Heinze, 2018; Lu & Heinze, 2021). Finally, what is the next step in the future of the sports social-culture? The expected answer has to do with organisational change; change in governance structure, behaviour and attitude towards sports, and the adoption of new practices and policies. This change can be due to institutional triggers such as disruptive events or environmental shocks like the Covid-19 pandemic, disasters, crises, threats, regulatory changes, and technological disruptions (Di Lu & Heinze, 2018). It can also arise due to socio-cultural pressure because organisations are embedded in cultural environments that can shape or constrain their behaviour (Di Lu & Heinze, 2018). These socio-cultural pressures could come from norms, conventions, values, beliefs, or scripts that guide decision-making in an organisation (Scott, 2001). This pressure is such that can force legitimacy and rationality in new practice adoption (Lounsbury, 2017) where the new practice aligns with the existing socio-culture, meaning that any violations means violating the socio-cultural norm. Similarly, researchers have advocated the shift of priority on government investment from the national physical training plan and the Olympic glory plan to financial support for leisure for sports and sports for education (Xue & Li, 2022). Others have recommended to improve the support given for social capital and sports clubs, enact legislations to protect outdoor sports and recreational accidents, reduce the cost of leisure sports consumption and lower participation cost as well as compensating the price of sport venues or clubs. The overall aim is to achieve sport-for-all, sports as a human right as well as sport for health, leisure, fun, and enjoyment. The governance of socio-culture in sports should also be flexible and adaptable considering that rigid rules and regulations and legislations may not be appropriate for those that are more behavioural and subjective. The rules and regulations governing health, leisure, fun, and enjoyment are usually based on the outcomes of personal experience. Rigid rules and regulations may prove to be counterproductive and lead to negative outcomes. However, it is the delivery and the outcome that matter, not the sport activity or participation. From this viewpoint, sports is merely the platform, not the end product of the sports socio-culture, which starts with sport engagements through education and enculturation of sporting values.

References Belton, B. (2012). Professional youth work. A concept and strategies. Commonwealth Secretariat. Bernasconi, M., Tribunal arbitral du sport. Conférence (4, 2012 : Lausanne), & Fédération suisse des avocats. International sports law and jurisprudence of the CAS. Bhandari, S. (n.d.). Difference between management and governance. https://askanydifference.com/ difference-between-management-and-governance Chen, X. (2022). The dissemination, influence, and efficiency of Jameson’s Cultural theory combined with Chinese mass culture and mass sports culture in the sustainable development of China. Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/651 0147

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Rodesiler, L. (2021). Controversies, rivalries, and representation: Sports culture as a site for research and inquiry. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 65(1), 55–63. https://doi.org/10.1002/ JAAL.1158 Schmitt, T. (2011). Cultural governance as a conceptual framework (MMG Working Paper 11-02). Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity. www.mmg.mpg.de/wor kingpapers Scott, W. R. (2001). Institutions and organizations. Sage. http://www.sciepub.com/reference/ 154249 Seneviratne, D., Corney, T., & Broadbent, R. (Eds.). (2017). Youth work in the Commonwealth. A growth profession. Commonwealth Secretariat. Sportanddev. (2021). How is sport policy related to social policy? Sportanddev.Org. https://www. sportanddev.org/en/learn-more/sport-and-development-policy/how-sport-policy-related-soc ial-policy Statute—Federation International Sport pour TOUS. (2022). https://www.fispt.eu/statute/ Stefani, R. (2017). E-sports, mind sports and the Olympics: What is sport, anyway? StatslifeSignificance Magazine. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315614141_E-sports_mind_ sports_and_the_Olympics_what_is_a_sport_anywayThe_United_Nations Thompson, A., Lachance, E. L., Parent, M. M., & Hoye, R. (2022, May). A systematic review of governance principles in sport. European Sport Management Quarterly, 1–26. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/16184742.2022.2077795 Tierney, H. (2011). Mapping fieldwork and supervision practice in the social professions (Part 2). Youth Studies Ireland, 6(2), 21–35. Torkildsen, G. (2005). Leisure and recreation management (5th ed.). Routledge. UNESCO. (2015). Quality Physical Education (QPE): Guidelines for policy makers (N. McLennan & J. Thompson, Eds.; illus, Vol. 89, Issue section 1). UNESCO Digital Library. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000231101 UNESCO. (2017, July). Kazan action plan. UNESCO. https://en.unesco.org/mineps6/kazan-act ion-plan UNESCO. (2019, July). Discussion on SDG 4—Quality education. High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, 14. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/ 23669BN_SDG4.pdf United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (2004). Sport, recreation and play. https://www.sporta nddev.org/sites/default/files/downloads/55_sport_recreation_and_play.pdf WADA. (2021). The World Anti-Doping Code. World Anti-Doping Agency. https://www.wada-ama. org/en/what-we-do/world-anti-doping-code WADA. (n.d.). Court of arbitration for sport. World Anti-Doping Agency. https://www.wada-ama. org/en/anti-doping-partners/court-arbitration-sport WADA v. Norjannah Hafiszah Jamaludin, Nurul Sarah Abdul Kadir, Mohamad Noor Imran Hadi, Siti Zubaidah Adabi, Siti Fatimah Mohamad, Yee Yi Ling, Harun Rasheed & MAF. (2014, May 24). https://jusmundi.com/en/document/decision/en-world-anti-doping-agency-wadav-norjannah-hafiszah-jamaludin-nurul-sarah-abdul-kadir-mohamad-noor-imran-hadi-siti-zub aidah-adabi-siti-fatimah-mohamad-yee-yi-ling-harun-rasheed-malaysia-athletic-federationmaf-award-friday-24th-may-2013-1 Witt, P. A., & Caldwell, L. L. (2010). The rationale for recreation services for youth: An evidencebased approach. National Park and Recreation Association. Woods, R. B. (2016). Social issues in sport. Human Kinetics. Xue, R., & Li, H. (2022). Characteristics, experience, and enlightenment of leisure and sports policy and public health development in developed countries. Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/9162584 Yusof, A. (2019). Transforming sport for all programs in Malaysia. From service delivery to managing sports experiences. Inaugural Lecture Series. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press. Yusof, W. M., Lee, K. M., & Abidin, A. (2015). Instilling sports culture as catalyst for positive youth development. Malaysian Journal of Youth Studies, 13, 33–63.

Chapter 8

Mental Health as a Human Right Samuel Fuller, Suzanne Potts, Denise Kamyuka, Mesha Jefferson, Mariah Parsons, Christine Pinalto, Cathryn Salladin, and Jenny Sichel

Abstract The Whole Being Athlete Program of Athletes for Hope (AFH) is focused on amplifying athlete voices for mental health advocacy and awareness purposes. Informing the athletes that their voice is the most important voice in this research, was paramount to recognizing and mitigating the power imbalance that could potentially exist between the AFH employees guiding this research and the athletes. This chapter reviews its emphasis on athlete mental health as a human right. Keywords Athletes · Mental health advocacy · Athlete mental health · Human rights · Mental health · Sport

8.1 Introduction Elite athletes are thought to be more mentally resilient than the average person. Because they have a strong, steady mind that equips them for high performance and achievement, they are perceived to be the pinnacle of good health. However, studies have shown that despite these perceptions, elite athletes are at the same risk of mental disorders as the general public (Åkesdotter et al., 2020). This risk is magnified amongst athletes who are injured, retired/retiring, and performing below expectations. The issue lies in the fact that sport psychology is often focused on performance and not applied holistically to an athlete’s overall well-being. This disconnect is the result of a sports system that views elite athletes as the sum of their sporting accomplishments and not as a human first. In 2019, Athletes for Hope (AFH) published an article to its website that addressed athlete mental health. Within the span of a year, this post had garnered thousands of views and thus began the influx of athlete requests to get involved and share their stories about mental health. Story S. Fuller (B) · S. Potts · D. Kamyuka · M. Jefferson · M. Parsons · C. Pinalto · C. Salladin · J. Sichel Athletes for Hope, Bethesda, MD, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing (eds.), Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_8

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after story, AFH heard disheartening tales of gross injustice and negligence that had adverse mental health outcomes for the athletes involved. AFH joined a coalition of organizations to promote Project Play’s “Children’s Rights & Sports” Bill of Rights, an initiative of the Aspen Institute. This campaign demonstrated the impact a Bill of Rights can have in pointing out faults in the sport system and gathering all stakeholders in a national plea to raise awareness and advocate for change. Naomi Osaka, A’ja Wilson, Kevin Love, and Victoria Garrick have brought mainstream media attention to the issue of mental health, however all athletes- in and outside the public eye-, are entitled to the same human rights as any other US citizen. In the following sections we look at the rationale for developing a National Bill of RIghts for athlete mental health. We give a brief overview of the current landscape of athlete mental health and review the literature on elite athlete mental health. The latter sections in the chapter cover our methods, results and recommendations derived from those results. Lastly we propose a draft for an Athletes Mental Health Bill of Rights for athletes at all levels of play, with an emphasis on collegiate and elite level athletes.

8.2 Rationale At the time of publication, there is no systematic process for athletes at elite levels for screening, intervention, or support around mental health; and no one entity who is responsible for this system of care. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), who is responsible for oversight of college level athletics across the U.S., has taken steps to better understand the health and wellness needs of student-athletes. The NCAA launched a Student-Athlete Well Being Survey which shows increased rates of anxiety, mental exhaustion and depression among student-athletes in the most recent survey (NCAA, 2023). There are rules and regulations in place to support athlete physical health but no one entity or policy that supports athletes’ mental health care. While the NCAA and the Department of Defense have created a partnership to engage in concussion research and management, called the Mind Matters Challenge, nothing has happened at the national level to align athlete supporting organizations around athlete mental health. Research also indicates the National Youth Sports Strategy’s primary focus is on youth sports access and equity, without an emphasis on youth mental health (About the National Youth Sports Strategy | health.gov, n.d.) This chapter focuses on elite athletes, i.e. professional, Olympic and Paralympic athletes and collegiate athletes who are struggling with mental health disorders or who may one day need to access quality mental health services as part of their athletic journey. While youth mental health should be considered in a larger national campaign, for this effort the focus will be on elite level athletes and the challenges to supporting athlete mental health.

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8.3 Objectives of Chapter This chapter is designed to synthesize athlete’s experiences with mental health and sport (positive or negative) into recommendations for actionable, legislative changes to the sport system.

8.3.1 Background Definition of Mental Health for athletes Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in. Mental health is a basic human right. And it is crucial to personal, community and socio-economic development.

The concept of health as a human right has recently expanded and is no longer confined to the absence of disease or mental disorders. Instead, health is considered to exist on a continuum. ...some contemporary psychological scientists maintain that there is a mental health continuum, with one end representing the status of being high-functioning individuals whose psychological states do not interfere with daily activities, and the other representing low functioning individuals whose psychological states consist of a variety of problematic cognitive, emotional, or behavioural characteristics, often referred to as mental illness.

This continuum is contextualized by various experiences in an athlete’s career. For example, an athlete’s mental state at the beginning of their athletic career is likely different from their mental state as they are approaching retirement. The various environments that athletes find themselves in also impact their definition of mental health. For example, an athlete may have a different definition of mental health during their competitive season versus the off season (Henriksen et al., 2020). The continuum focuses on both mental illness and mental health with the promulgation of an assetbased approach to interventions. Athletes For Hope recognizes a mental health bill of rights as an asset building tool for athletes. A bill will help put vocabulary behind the mental health needs that the research and the sport system have yet to articulate. It will also arm athletes with legislation to support their advocacy and demands. As mentioned in the introductory chapter, the pervasiveness of human rights abuse in sport has been brought mainstream attention by some of the world’s most famous athletes. Following Simone Biles’ chilling testimony of the sexual abuse she experienced, Biles’ made a statement in support of her mental well-being at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Her refusal to participate again brought worldwide public attention to the conversation about athlete mental health. We may recall that this conversation was rife after Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and NBA player Kevin Love spoke up about their battle with mental health. However, it was only after Naomi Osaka

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followed Simone’s example of refusal, did we re-start the conversation about the sport system and its deficiencies when it comes to mental health. Naomi refused to participate in any public interviews prior to the 2021 French Open; by putting self-care above self-sacrifice, Osaka and Biles took a radical stance. The introductory chapter presents us with the current landscape of athlete rights, which exposes an obvious gap in the protections of an athlete’s mental health. Only USA Artistic Swimming mentioned an athlete’s right to “have their personal wellness prioritized. Athletes have the right to pursue and be supported in their pursuit of a healthy lifestyle” (see Introductory chapter). While this does not specifically speak to mental wellness, it does set the precedent for one’s right to ‘refusal’ in favor of their health and well-being.

8.4 Literature Review on Elite Athlete Mental Health as a Right Research on elite athlete mental health informs us that elite athletes are as prone, if not moreso, to experiencing mental health disorders as the general public. Results also show that athletes are offered far fewer referrals or are less likely to seek out clinical support for psychological disorders that are not directly linked to athletic performance (acsm.org, 2021). Despite only 10% of athletes seeking psychological assistance, approximately 35% of elite athletes report suffering from disordered eating, burnout, depression and/or anxiety (Gouttebarge et al., 2019) as compared to the general public data which is reported at around 20% (NAMI, 2023).

8.4.1 Eating Disorders Elite athletes, particularly athletes in sports that celebrate ‘leanness’ (e.g. swimming, gymnastics, etc.) are more prone to over-exercising, body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms (Kong & Harris, 2015). A disproportionate amount of literature is focused on eating disorders and body dissatisfaction amongst women and female sports. The lack of evidence may suggest that this issue is not prevalent amongst male athletes, however Goltz et al. (2013) dispel this notion, noting that over 25% of elite male Brazilian athletes had eating disorder symptoms. These studies suggest that positive coaching can provide a supportive environment for the athletes at risk of developing eating disorders. However, education and awareness efforts should also be targeted towards family and peers (Kong & Harris, 2015).

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8.4.2 Burn Out Overtraining has also been linked to athlete burnout. Researchers describe athlete burnout as a slow process, characterized by the gradual onset of emotional and physical exhaustion, a reduced sense of accomplishment and an increased cynicism about the sport or team (Åkesdotter et al., 2020). Overtraining syndrome is poorly monitored in the sport system, partly due to inadequate diagnostic tools, but largely, due to a lack of athlete, coach and guardian education on the condition (ibid.). Research has recommended that coaches and organizations recognize the importance of creating positive environments, which encourages support amongst teammates instead of negative competition. Teammate support (not in lieu of coaching, parental, and other support) has been strongly correlated with reduced burnout rates (DeFreese & Smith, 2013).

8.4.3 Depression and Anxiety Burnout is often misdiagnosed as depression or anxiety and vice versa (Åkesdotter et al., 2020). The research on anxiety in sport is overwhelmingly focused on performance anxiety and as opposed to clinical anxiety. The research therefore impacts the course of action coaches and teams take, in response to athletes showing symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. Normalizing performance anxiety undergirds the stigma and underreporting associated with depression and clinical anxiety for athletes. Injury; retirement and subsequent identity- crisis; trauma, and poor performance have all been associated with high levels of anxiety and depression, amongst elite athletes. However, much like the other clinical conditions, stigma, lack of information, lack of monitoring tools and an overly competitive sporting culture decreases athletes’ likeness to seek help and results in underreporting of mental health conditions in elite sport. Legislation however need not wait for the research or the sporting culture to catchup or to provide evidence that every athlete needs protection. Athletes have spoken out about the sports system and a sporting culture that perpetuates adverse mental health outcomes. The athlete’s voice should be enough, regardless of sport, rank, gender, or age should receive equitable mental health protections. To envision what an athlete’s mental health bill of rights might look like„ we borrow from the landscape of mental health in the US workplace. Mental health disorders served as the leading cause for disability in the US workplace (Gabriel, 2000). A policy and legislative framework for the protection of US workers’ mental health has emerged from the efforts of various bodies and lawmakers. Contributing to this framework is the American with Disabilities Act (1990) which upholds an employee’s right to disclose their disability and outlaws employers’ attempts to discriminate on the basis of disability. Workers are also allowed to request reasonable

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accommodations for their disability. Mental impairment is categorized as a legal disability. Also forming part of this framework is the Mental Health Parity Act (1996), which is meant to ensure that health insurance coverage for mental illness is comparable to physical illness. Despite this protection, health insurance companies have been slow to increase the scope of mental disorders that they cover. Employers and insurance companies are also lackadaisical in their efforts to educate workers about their mental health coverage. The Family and Medical Leave Act Workers Compensation (1993) has been put in place to protect employee jobs and income in the instance when an employee cannot go to work due to a mental impairment. Employers offer Employee Assistance Programs such as financial literacy training, child care, and/or counseling to mitigate and alleviate the impact of personal problems in the workplace, and reduce workplace related injuries.

8.5 Methodology Athletes for Hope’s Whole Being Athlete Program (WBAP) prides itself on being an athlete centered program. The WBAP was created to advocate for athlete mental health through amplifying athlete stories, experiences, and voice. In support of the WBAP’s point of emphasis, this chapter will focus on actual athlete mental health experiences. AFH invited its WBAP Mental Health Ambassadors to participate as co-authors in this research and four individuals decided to join us. The athletes completed a short qualitative survey that asked the following open-ended questions: From your own experience, what aspect of sports has the biggest impact on your rights as an athlete and more importantly as a human being? Please provide a description of how your rights have been/are violated. What aspect(s) of athlete mental health do you believe are most important? (Please be as exhaustive as possible) Do you know of any policies in place that address this? Either within a team, league, locally or nationally? What resources/support/policies are missing, that would help athletes/coaches/ team managers address this problem? Now that you know the purpose of this research, is there anything you would like to see added to the Athlete Mental Health Bill of Rights? The same questions were posed to the athletes during a collective Zoom focus group. The athletes were asked to elaborate on their answers to the questionnaire and further reflect on their experiences and the experiences of the other athletes. The group video conference sessions were recorded and transcribed using Otter Ai, and with the help of an AFH intern. The transcripts were shared with the coauthors for further reflection and feedback.

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Quotations from the interviews and questionnaires have been shared in the results and recommendations section of the chapter, however, accounts shared under the title “Stories from the field” have been redacted and identifiers have been changed or removed, to protect each athlete’s identity.

8.6 Results and Recommendations 8.6.1 Draft Athlete Mental Health Bill of Rights The impetus of this chapter is to use athlete voices to frame the rationale for an athlete mental health bill of rights. The next steps for AFH are to invite support from advocates, scholars, legislators and athletes. AFH seeks to form a coalition of like minded individuals and institutions to investigate, develop and seek bipartisan support on a national athlete mental health bill of rights. Based on the research, AFH recommends an Athlete Mental Health Bill of Rights that Identifies the following rights: To healthy bodies and healthy body images Athletes require a team of mental health experts who work with coaches, management, medical staff and other auxiliary staff to support the athlete holistically. To support in career transition Athletes require mental support needed to help them transfer and retool their athletic skills for a career transition. To adequately manage injury Athletes require mental health support to help them deal with injuries. To mental health support for performance on and off the field Athletes need sport psychologists or social workers that cover a wider range of issues that go beyond performance. Sport psychologists and social workers need training that is focused upon treating athletes as more than just athletes. To timely referrals to mental health experts for psychological disorders and conditions Athletes need prompt and timely expert support when dealing with mental health disorders. To training, education and awareness focused upon the importance of mental wellness, identifying mental health conditions, and finding mental health resources. Athletes require equal opportunities for training and education about mental health issues that will help build awareness and improve mental health outcomes. To coaches and trainers who are trauma informed, and have some level of mental health training.

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Coaches and athletic trainers must have comprehensive mental health training to adequately support athletes. To equal and equitable access to mental health All athletes need appropriate access to mental health services and supports that are culturally and racially representative.

8.6.2 Recommendations Many elite athletes, Olympians, Paralympians and collegiate athletes still shoulder the title of ‘amateur’ athlete, despite training as professionals. These athletes face many of the same pressures as professional athletes, i.e.: ● Spending 4–8 h of their day dedicated to their sport in one-form or another. ● Having contractual obligations to perform, compete and show up for practice. ● Owing a significant portion of their financial or economic sustainability to their sport. However, under the title of ‘amateur,’ many athletes are not given the same protections that US workers are afforded under workplace mental health frameworks. At the NCAA level, it is a huge problem because, in a lot of ways, you often cannot avoid the problem. You are essentially “owned” by the university and by the coaches. You cannot miss practice if your mental health is struggling. You cannot easily transfer and ensure that you’ll have the same financial support, educational experience, etc. Often times, you can’t even advocate for yourself to the people in charge because they often don’t want to deal with complaints from their athletes.—Cathryn Salladin

All elite athletes follow a similar path, whether professional or amateur. Their mental health is impacted by their sport’s competition calendar, their physical health, their ability to perform well, and their career status. Sport psychology has focused on improving athlete performance, however, mental health support outside of the competition season and beyond the field are nominal. We therefore echo the following recommendations from the “Consensus statement on improving the mental health of high performance athletes” (Henriksen et al., 2020). First and foremost, AFH recommends that the definition of mental health for athletes transcend athlete performance. For the purposes of an athlete’s right to mental health, the mental health continuum should expand to include these different contexts. Mental health supports should therefore also vary to meet the needs of athletes in these various contexts. Whatever the context, an athlete should have access to resources that support their mental health at that time. Major issues that require focus: career transitions, injury/pregnancy, competition, and athletic aesthetic. Discussing the challenges with people’s expectation on your performance, both letting yourself and the team down with mistakes, anxiety around good performance, depression and difficulties with transitioning out of sports, expectations and difficulties returning from an injury—Sam Fuller

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Sam articulates the myriad of circumstances that impede on an athletes mental health. He alludes to the continuum of mental health that needs to be considered when managing athletes mental health as well as mental illnesses. Under the Worker’s Compensation Act, professional athletes that have to leave the sport due to mental health impairments are offered vocational training and retooling opportunities to assist in their transition. Amateur athletes are not assured of this provision. In fact, the arbitrary label of ‘amateur’ elite athlete deprives many athletes of the mental health protections US citizens are afforded in the workplace. Based on conversations with (and as) athletes, survey responses from sport organizations, the literature and the current protections of US workers, we would like to present the following recommendations: All athletes should have fair and equitable representation by an athlete commission. The commission should act as the liaison for athletes and be involved in decision making processes of a sport organization or league. The commission would also have a set of legislative rights that it can use to advocate on behalf of its athletes. An athlete Bill of Rights would be a tremendous asset in teaching athletes how to advocate for themselves and seek the support they need. It would also communicate to the athletes that they are more than just athletes and they are seen and valued as humans first—Christine Pinalto (Sidelined USA)

Athletes must have access to programs and services that are prerequisites of holistic mental wellness. For example elite athletes should have access to: Safe, reasonable and dignified accommodation (on and off season). Financial support and financial literacy programs. Education and awareness about mental health and mental health resources. Proper diet and education on proper nutrition. Personal hygiene products and the right to dignified appearances to practice/ games/competitions and other public appearances. Support based on life stages: i.e. for athletes in school, athletes with children, athletes nearing retirement, athletes beginning a high profile sport career, etc. Recognizing mental health holistically will allow us to view the mitigation of personal problems as injury prevention. These are examples of only a few programs. These programs and services should be determined and requested by the athlete commission of the organization or league. I think that there are a lot of resources at universities, but they are not well known or promoted.—Sam Fuller

Athletes deserve access to mental health services at every level. Paramount to the integrity of these services is a comprehensive referral system. Athletes should be screened for mental health illnesses and adequately referred to a clinician in a timely manner. Regardless of the situation, an athlete’s request for a referral should be considered enough evidence for a referral to be made. Understanding that athletes are MORE THAN JUST ATHLETES!!! We say this all day long, especially from the sports psychology world, and yet, in my experience, there have been

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few resources for psychological support outside of the bare minimum: a couple weeks of performance-focused chats with a sports psychologist.—Cathryn Salladin

Athletes should be protected from experiencing and witnessing harm, harassment, violence and discrimination. Athletes’ reports of these violations must be taken seriously and handled with the highest form of transparency. Organizations must demonstrate accountability for these incidents. It’s a combination of vulnerability, honesty and trust. Knowing that if you say something it will be taken up the chain, it will be actionable. If you say something, someone’s going to trust that something actually happened to you and not just brush it off. And trust amongst your teammates as well. Trust that everybody has [everyone else’s] best interests at heart.—Jenny Sichel

All athletes who are transitioning out of competition (voluntarily or not) must be offered vocational training and training on how to re-tool their skills for other career paths. Teaching coping strategies, healthy identity, and the power of transferable skills they learned in sport that prepares them to be successful in life can mitigate much of the potential difficulties in that transition. Sidelined athletes (medically disqualified in particular) frequently struggle deeply with identity loss and in turn, mental health (depression, anxiety, eating disorders in particular). Building up all athletes with MH and wellness throughout their time in their athletic program will prepare them to make the transition following their sports career, whether anticipated or not.—Christine Pinalto (Sidelined USA)

All athletes have the right to a supportive culture that recognizes mental impairment as a disability. Athletes with mental impairments must be provided with reasonable accommodations (which include access to mental health professionals), support and treatment. Normalizing therapy and advocacy are the most important to me. Societally we’re moving in the right direction with momentum, but we still haven’t gotten to the point where a medical doctor’s appointment and a clinical therapist appointment are respected as equally necessary. With that though, we need more access to relatable therapists with more representation across the board.—Mariah Parsons

In conclusion, we would like to leave the reader with some accounts of the co-authors’ experiences with mental health. We would like to warn readers that the following accounts may serve as triggers and ask that readers do what is necessary to protect their mental well-being.

8.7 Stories from the Field At the_________, I was emotionally and verbally abused on multiple occasions by the coaching staff. Many people were; it wasn’t just me. Anyone who “stepped out of line” or disagreed in any way was deemed as “defiant.” My rights were violated at this (place) immensely, definitely what should have been my rights to health and healthcare, bodily autonomy and choosing how to care for myself, and the ability to advocate for and think for myself.

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I asked for mental health support for months before being allowed to see a therapist, while another (athlete who performed better) on my team asked to see a therapist and got in that very same day. Many of my teammates and I tried to report the coach’s abusive behavior to Title IX, but we were discouraged from going through with the reports when we were told our reports wouldn’t be anonymous. We were not allowed to speak up for ourselves in any way, shape, or form. We had absolutely no ability to choose how we took care of ourselves because regardless of what was happening in our lives, with our health, or anything else, practice could not be missed. I was sleeping 3 hours per night or less, and yet I was told that if I didn’t have a fever, I still had to be at practice. The morning after I attempted to take my life, I was still forced to attend practice. I was stripped of the rights to my own bodily decisions on how I needed to care for myself and was manipulated by pure fear tactics. I was not given the opportunity to live without fear.—Athlete A Without advocacy, it’s not easy for anyone to speak up when their rights are being infringed upon or when they’re struggling. Without advocacy, we think we are alone in our experiences and can walk ourselves into negative talk tracks, which can lead to dangerous repercussions. For me personally, I wouldn’t be such a strong advocate if I hadn’t been introduced to public advocates like Michael Phelps and Victoria Garrick as well as personal advocates on my team who recognized when I was struggling and showed me how to be an advocate for myself. By being an advocate for myself, I’ve increased my awareness for my needs, I’ve removed shame around expressing my needs and sharing about my mental health, and increased my confidence.—Athlete B Athletes who are medically disqualified are often “dropped” by their teams for all intents and purposes. I have heard story upon story of athletes who gave everything they had to their teams and coaches, and then due to injury had to medically retire, only to be quickly dismissed by their coaches with very little attention to the impact that MDQ had on the athlete. We, the adults in sports, have the moral responsibility to see athletes as humans first and care about them more than just for what they can contribute to the “win”. We are failing our young people if we treat them as a commodity to be used and once spent, discarded. This is by far the most hurtful part of medical disqualification for those athletes who share this experience.—Sidelined USA

8.8 Conclusion As demonstrated above, the Whole Being Athlete Program of Athletes for Hope (AFH) is focused on amplifying athlete voices for mental health advocacy and awareness purposes. Informing the athletes that their voice is the most important voice in this research, was paramount to recognizing and mitigating the power imbalance that could potentially exist between the AFH employees guiding this research and the athletes. This chapter discussed its emphasis on athlete mental health as a human right.

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References About the National Youth Sports Strategy | health.gov. (n.d.). https://health.gov/our-work/nutritionphysical-activity/national-youth-sports-strategy/about-national-youth-sports-strategy Åkesdotter, C., Kenttä, G., Eloranta, S., & Franck, J. (2020). The prevalence of mental health problems in elite athletes. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 23(4), 329–335. DeFreese, J. D., & Smith, A. L. (2013). Teammate social support, burnout, and self-determined motivation in collegiate athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14(2), 258–265. Gabriel, P. (2000). Mental health in the workplace: Situation analyses, United States. International Labour Organization. Goltz, F. R., Stenzel, L. M., & Schneider, C. D. (2013). Disordered eating behaviors and body image in male athletes. Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 35, 237–242. Gouttebarge, V., et al. (2019). Occurrence of mental health symptoms and disorders in current and former elite athletes:A systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53, 700–707. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-100671 Henriksen, K., Schinke, R., Moesch, K., McCann, S., Parham, W. D., Larsen, C. H., & Terry, P. (2020). Consensus statement on improving the mental health of high performance athletes. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 18(5), 553–560. https://doi.org/10. 1080/1612197X.2019.1570473 Kong, P., & Harris, L. M. (2015). The sporting body: Body image and eating disorder symptomatology among female athletes from leanness focused and nonleanness focused sports. The Journal of Psychology, 149(2), 141–160. NCAA. (2023, February 21). An open letter to NCAA student athletes. https://www.Ncaa.org/ News/2023/2/21/Media-Center-An-Open-Letter-To-Ncaa-Student-Athletes-On-Mental-Hea lth.Aspx. NAMI. (2023). Mental health by the numbers. NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Chapter 9

Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports and Culture: Research Findings Yvonne Vissing and Joseph Zajda

Abstract The chapter argues that globalization of sport, the politicization of sport, and the rise of sport as a mega business, suggests that more attention needs to be paid to human rights implications. Advocates for athlete human rights have an uphill battle to wage. This is why some collectives, like gymnasts who have been sexually abused or people with disabilities, have bonded together in legal actions and social movements in order to bring awareness to their right to rights. The use of valid methodologies, data collections, and the creation of theoretical frameworks and pedagogical approaches will be important to offset the amount of money and media coverage that emboldens the sports industry. Keywords Athletes · Globalisation of sport · Human rights · International human rights treaties · Sport

9.1 Introduction The chapters in this book have focused on different types or dimensions of sports, but all have conveyed a consistent theme. That message is that at the macro, meso, micro, and personal levels, there is a relationship between sport and human rights. There has been a paucity of attention historically to this relationship. However, given the globalization of sport, the politicization of sport, and the rise of sport as a mega business, it is impossible not to pay more attention to its human rights implications. As pointed out by Nelson Mandela at the first Laureus World Sports Award, sports has the power to change the world by breaking down barriers, promoting peace, and Y. Vissing (B) Department of Healthcare Studies, Salem State University, Salem, MA, USA e-mail: [email protected] J. Zajda Faculty of Education and Arts, School of Education, Australian Catholic University, East Melbourne, VIC, Australia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing (eds.), Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_9

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creating champions—not just on the field but also in the ways that individuals live their lives and the ways that organizations function.

9.2 Integrated Nature of Sport and Human Rights Authors in this book are committed to developing human rights policies and practices. They provide theoretical, methodological, and pragmatic information so that readers can understand the issues, why they are important, and what people can do to institutionalize human rights in sport. As shown in their chapters, there is an extensive body of literature to support researchers and practitioners in this process. They have drawn upon international human rights treaties, sociology, philosophy, psychology, political science, biology and medicine, child development, ability, cognition, politics, economics, to name a few fields. The fact that sport and human rights are interdisciplinary promotes the position that whatever sport one is talking about, the study of human rights makes significant contributions to the development of not just human rights or sport, but to the disciplines themselves. Their works pertain to globalization as well as dynamics in specific countries, organizations, and sports. It is possible to generalize from their insights about specific sports to the broader field of sport and why human rights are essential. Individual and organizational intersections in sports are addressed in every chapter. They show that indeed the personal is political. Oppression and exploitation of individual athletes is a by-product constructed in a convoluted relationship between the economic, organizational, and political institutions of societies around the world. The globalization of values that put money and power over the bodies, mental health, and economic support of individuals is something that was elucidated in the chapters. The problem of human rights violation is thus not associated with a particular athlete, organization, sport, or even country. The multinational intersectionality of exploitation is pervasive. It cannot be solved by minor or individualistic changes. Rather, wholesale commitment between all of the institutions are essential to create a fair playing field for all.

9.3 Pervasive Nature of Human Rights in Sport Authors in their review of the literature and unique data contributions showed that there is not just one type of human rights violation in sports, but in fact there are many types that cut across the entire sport industry at every level. This is an important finding to recognize. It points to the need for sport organizations to address comprehensive human rights standards and actions at every level of involvement. Figure 9.1 illustrates how the policies, practices, structures, and infrastructures under which a given sport operates within a particular context (organizational, specific sport, field of sport, national, or global) dictates its support for human rights,

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Org Policies & Structures Political Agendas

Isms Human Rights Emotional Abuse

Financial Abuse Physical Abuse

Fig. 9.1 Categories of human rights violations in sport

or their unwillingness to put into place the supports for athlete and spectator rights. Figure 9.1 contains an overview of major types of human rights violations. The category of “Isms” pertains to marginalization, oppression, discrimination, and other forms of disentitlement due to one’s gender, sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, abilities, or body configurations including genotypes and phenotypes. These are often considered in the discussion of demographic characteristics, but they are more than that. While the “isms” may refer to ascribed characteristics over which the athlete has no or little control, rights violations may also target athletes at the achieved level. This includes their educational background, training history, who they worked with, where they attended school, awards and recognitions they may have received, and so forth. Isms may be apparent at the player level, such as people who experience “disability” and are excluded, alienated, not allowed to play, not given accommodations, or ridiculed or demeaned when they play. Isms may also pertain to sub-groups of sports as well. Women’s sports have been less well funded and less well publicized than male sports of the same genre. Sports organizations showcasing the accomplishments of athletes with physical or cognitive abilities as a group may be marginalized within the larger arena of sport. Historically, sports teams that are of a predominately homogenous racial group have received differential treatments and opportunities. The lack of female coaches in traditionally male

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sports, while simultaneously the common presence of male coaches in traditionally female sports, is noteworthy. Coaching diversity remains as a problem in all sports. Physical abuses include sexual abuse, brain injury, overuse of muscles, broken bones, being grabbed, hit, and experiencing direct assaults. Some of the physical injuries that athletes experience may be overt—like sexual abuse or being forced to play while having an obvious injury. Others may be covert, perhaps not recognized as such but having long term impacts, as in the case of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Some physical rights violations may be intentional while others are not intentional and accidental– but harmful nonetheless, with potentially life-long consequences. Lack of appropriate medical care and interventions, as well as putting into place mechanisms to prevent injuries and harm in the first instance, also fall in this category. The rise of athletes using performance enhancing drugs and being doped in order to be more competitive is a serious ethical, rights, and health concern (Krug, 2023). This is true for humans and animal athletes as well. Athlete mental health is a human rights issue. The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine convened a panel of experts to provide an evidence-based, best practices document to assist sports medicine physicians and other members of the athletic care network with the detection, treatment, and prevention of mental health issues in competitive athletes. They recommend a comprehensive, system-wide approach to the prevention and treatment of mental health problems in athletes. They address issues such as hazing, bullying, sexual misconduct, as eating disorders/disordered eating, depression and suicide, anxiety and stress, overtraining, sleep disorders, and issues such as anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and personality characteristics (Chang et al., 2020). Emotional abuses include verbal maltreatment, manipulation, shaming, guilt, gaslighting, disrespect for an athlete’s cognitive, physical, or mental challenges, to name a few. The pressure to be an athlete is extensive. Socio-emotional factors are pervasive that impact an athlete’s mental health. There may be performance pressures from family members, peers, coaches and trainers, from other players, the media, and from the fans themselves. They receive pressure to keep playing when they don’t want to, or to play in certain positions or leagues when there are obstacles that limit their ability to do so. The pressures to perform, and to be the best of the best, cannot be underestimated with their impact on an athlete’s psyche and social life. Emotional abuse can lead to death of athletes when player requests are unheeded or ridiculed (Matza, 2023). The rise of suicide in young athletes has gained attention—but will there be sufficient interventions instituted to prevent suicide from being an option for athletes (or anyone else, for that matter)? (Hensley-Clancy, 2022). Money is a huge driving force in sport at multiple levels. Financial rights violations can occur in a variety of forms. Some people who would like to play sport cannot because they do not have the financial resources to pay to play, buy equipment, travel, or afford the associated costs with playing a sport. Athletes may experience financial exploitation by team administrators who use players for advertising and promotional purposes; they may be given some financial benefits but what they receive is significantly lower than other players. They may not be able to own their own name; they may be traded like cattle to other teams without their input. Players or teams have been

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accused of throwing games for financial purposes. Financial exploitation occurs for spectators who may be exorbitant amounts for tickets, concessions, apparel, parking, or other costs associated with enjoying sporting events. And certainly, the amount of money that players may (or may not) be paid, and the amount of money obtained by the team or administrative levels of a sport may be significant. This may influence where games like the World Cup or NCAA playoffs are held, and all the hidden costs and benefits sporting events yield (Becker et al., 2022). The question about how online gambling that is occurring in many parts of the world will impact individual human rights is a topic yet understudied but which holds significant potential for violating individuals as they enhance profitability of sport organizations. There also looms the question of why it is justified for a sports player to make millions of dollars a year while a well-trained and highly educated teacher, nurse, or other human-service professional makes barely enough to make ends meet. The question of equity, justice, and fair payment is also a human rights issue. Politics and sports have become intimately intertwined. This is especially apparent at the globalization level. Politics, money, power, and prestige are intimately related. Sporting events may occur at a grassroots level, but over time have become bureaucratically structured within a particular sport, as well as within a nation. Teams nationally may vie for competition with each other. But internationally, teams from particular countries at the Olympics, World Cup, or other global competitions represent not just certain players or leagues, but the entire nation. This puts tremendous pressure on players. It also pressures one country to do all it can to secure the ‘best’ players so they can advance in competitions. This will require money and political negotiations that are both overt and covert. Some of the negotiations may be underhanded, far from transparent, and violate the way organizations act. More attention needs to be front and center when it comes to the political nature and ramification of sport (Posner, 2022; Worden, 2022). Few address spectator rights. There are some bills of rights that demand spectator behavior be rights respecting. This is seen when parents have attacked referees or even young athletes when their team loses, they disagree with a referee call, or if their child doesn’t get to play enough. Seeing stampedes at sporting events where people are killed have spurred interest in designing guidelines for spectator behavior. Tavella (2010) promotes the creation of a unified theory towards spectator rights since this is an issue that permeates all types of sporting events, from the local to the global, irrespective of the type of sport or the location of play. The pervasive nature of human rights violations in sport is so extensive that some organizations are stepping forward to develop athlete bills of rights. However, it appears that such bills of rights are not uniform. Some are designed to protect the sport organization more than the players. The use of the term ‘human rights” can be defined in variable ways, which has contributed to groups creating guidelines that support some units or people more than other. In reviewing some bills of rights, they may support the inclusion of people of certain genders—which could either include or exclude transgender athletes, depending on how rights are defined and whose rights are deemed a higher priority. In other cases, bills of rights may require athlete

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medical forms be signed which refuse to hold the sport organization responsible of the athlete is injured. There is a need for consistency in what is contained in athlete bills of rights. For instance, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) lays forward clear guidelines that can help to shape what a Young Athlete Bill of Rights should contain. However, the CRC provides general guidelines—it was not written to deal directly with child sport. A CRC focused young athlete bill of rights that truly builds upon all of the articles in the CRC would be a significant benefit to the global sport community. Fragmented bills that only address some aspects of a young athlete’s rights set the stage for the creation of loop holes that can put young players and player wannabees at risk. A core set of rights that all sports types and organizations can use would be a next step in the creation of athlete rights.

9.4 Author Observations Each of the authors came from different orientations and focused on variable aspects of sport. Their differences illuminated the similarities between their research, literature reviews, data, and analyses. Lee and Hassim pointed out that while there may be personal benefits of sport, its negative implications cannot be ignored. The socio-cultural values associated with sport must be framed in a moralistic and humanity view. Fraud, violence, exploitation, and corruption have become commonplace in sport. Sport organizations and political and business institutions all intersect to nurture or inhibit rights-violating practices. The authors provide a rich framework for examining the impact of socio-cultural components of the sport ecosystem that help us to understand the importance of their work. Focusing on how they embed values and practices reflect a larger image of a society’s values and priorities. Strong commercial interests have become to eclipse the important socio-cultural role sport can play in human and social development. Lee and Hassim remind us about the importance of human rights education and the need for organizational and governance changes that will support adoption of rights-respecting practices and policies. Levine expands on the notion that sports are being exploited for by economic and political purposes in his examination of how authoritarian capitalist regimes are using sport for self-promotion. The world has compromised on its commitments to human rights by allowing countries such as China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates to hold major lucrative sporting events. Despite the National Basketball Association and the 2019 Hong Kong protests, Russia’s illegal annexing Crimea following the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and still being allowed to host the 2018 World Cup, investments in the Premier League made by Russian oligarchs, and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, and the LIV Golf events, both individual athletes and sports organizations have put moral views aside for economic and political gain. This is a sociocultural phenomenon that has global implications.

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Instead of sport being used for peacemaking and justice, as Mandela or the SDGs imply, sports are not being used as excuses for overlooking injustices. Rodrigues, Bhattacharya, and Cabete allege that the link between sports and human rights has been poorly stated despite it physical, emotional, social, and financial aspects. Sports businesses do not systematically protect human rights, but could if they could make the commitment to do so. This would require a global effort, in keeping with the SDGGs and MDGs. Through sport young people can learn values, tolerance, inclusivity, and witness the creation of true partnerships through team-play. These are lessons that they can carry with them through life. Replicating positive values gained through the fair-playing fields that sports can create has the potential of creating the type of world supported in a variety of human rights treaties and initiatives. In order to accomplish this, international, national, state laws and organizational policies must protect human rights, especially for those who are disadvantaged. As shown later in the chapter by Baker, rights-based social movements are essential in shifting the narrative about how sport organizations are to act and treat players. Baker’s chapter on the #NotNCAAProperty movement illustrates how this college athlete movement was launched to work in concert with other human rights actions occurring. It exposed how the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) oppressed players in order to maintain profits. The (NCAA) institutions benefit from the labor of unpaid student-athletes. Her debate is framed as two choices, keeping the system as is (amateurism) or paying student-athletes their market value and she explores the evolution of the human rights movement in which collegiate athletes demanded that the NCAA no longer require student-athletes to sign away their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Jonathan Moss reminds us about importance of inclusivity in sport through his chapter on Paralympics. There is a rich history associated with the development of sport for marginalized populations who have unique challenges when it comes to showcasing their abilities. His chapter brings forth a sensitivity from an objective observer-coach who has traveled the world. Even within organizations that are ostensibly sensitive to the needs and rights of Paralympians, discriminations may occur, overtly or covertly. His insights are tremendously valuable in helping us to explore both personal and organizational biases that discriminate and marginalize brave athletes who have overcome tremendous challenges to play sport. Similarly, Matthew Speno focuses on sport within the special education community. He finds that children and adults who have been identified to require special education are not always provided due access to sporting activities. When they are, they may continue to be marginalized. Schools and coaches may not adequately understand how learning challenges complicate the ability of students to participate in sporting activities. They may also not be aware of the emotional safety implications, as well as physical and social ones, that routine sporting activities may have on students with learning challenges. This group of students often falls through the cracks and he recommends that systems be much more attentive to addressing their rights, through IDEA, policies, and practices. Athletes for Hope authors, Samuel Fuller, Denise Kamyuka, Mesha Jefferson, Mariah Parsons, Christine Pinalto, Suzanne Potts, Cathryn Salladin, and Jenny Sichel,

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discuss how the history of athlete treatment, with the contribution of Muhammad Ali, shows that sport is indeed a human rights issue. The bonding together of athletes around the world to support each other demonstrates human rights in action. Their chapter on supporting athlete’s mental health is timely and of utmost importance. Athletes are under tremendous stress both on and off the field; differential treatment can exacerbate mental health issues that pose tremendous risk for athletes. Policies, practices, and procedures are directly related to the mental health of athletes. Sara Hamilton Rigg expands our horizons about sport by examining how equestrian athletes are treated—and how the horses, on which they depend, are also victims of oppression whose rights are violated. Horsemanship, ethical use, and equine welfare are the cornerstones of equestrianism, and critical to its ethical conduct. In equestrianism, there are two athletes, and while human rights receive less attention, yet are equally relevant. Horseback riding’s physical and logistical attributes combined with equestrianism’s rich cultural heritage and complexity make equestrian sports uniquely relevant to human rights. Moreover, she explains that equestrianism has a visible lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and has received attention for multiple human rights issues all of which have been treated as separate and isolated problems, rather than as a pattern indicative of systemic structural problems stemming from the sports’ privileged origins and the equestrian traditions that have been preserved through the subculture of equestrianism. She also points out in her work that beneath the veneer of equality, gender bias still impacts female participants in equestrian sport, revealing ingrained attitudes borne from equestrianism’s origins in the deeply masculine spaces of work, warfare, and political power.

9.5 Inequality and Discrimination in Sport The globalization of sport, the politicization of sport, and sport as an economic mega business, has implication for the ubiquitous and systemic inequality and discrimination in sport. Discrimination exists, both locally and globally, and it results in discriminatory practices by coaches, managers and administrators in sports’ events. Some of them tend to discriminate against certain athletes on the basis of cultural identity, SES, race, ethnicity and gender, to name a few (Zajda, 2022). According to the American Psychological Association (APA) (2022), ‘Discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age or sexual orientation’. Discrimination is described not only as a serious health issue, but also how it can be damaging to a person’s educational and job opportunities: Discrimination is a public health issue. According to the 2015 Stress in America Survey, people who say they have faced discrimination rate their stress levels higher, on average, than those who say they have not experienced discrimination. That’s true across racial and ethnic groups...The anticipation of discrimination creates its own chronic stress. People might even avoid situations where they expect they could be treated poorly, possibly missing out on educational and job opportunities. (APA, 2022)

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Discrimination is the universal practice of treating someone differently because of that person’s perceived cultural identity, or other related characteristics (Zajda, 2019). Discrimination can be positive or negative. It can be positive when an applicant is offered a job because of that person’s intelligence, qualifications, or a school tie (denoting status, distinction and privilege). However, discrimination often manifests itself as a negative phenomenon—for example, when athletes are discriminated against on the bases of their cultural identity, race, ethnicity and gender. Performing athletes are likely to learn various forms of discrimination, while participating in sport. It may result, in some cases, as demonstrated above, in athletes’ anxiety, stress, mental health issues, and negative self fulfilling prophecy (SFP) outcomes, especially, when sport coaches and administrators biased expectations influence their attitudes and behavior towards perfuming athletes. We must resist any attempts at labelling, categorising and dividing athletes into categories of performing or underperforming. Such discriminatory attitudes, behaviours, and practices displayed by some sport coaches are damaging to athletes’ identity and selfesteem and are likely to contribute to athletes’ performance anxiety, and depression, affecting their mental health. Labeling athletes in term of their potential performance serves to legitimise inequality and discrimination. In addition, these labels and stereotypes undermine the whole concept of performing athletes and sport’s participation holistic, based on equality, human rights and social justice.

9.6 Policy Recommendations for the Sport Industry As we leave this first volume about the relationship between culture, globalization, sport, and human rights, it is clear that the debate over whose rights are more right will continue. The study of human rights in sport highlights the influence that money, politics, and prestige play in how both athletes themselves and the various levels of sport organizations have evolved. Sport is clearly not just a game. It is a highly bureaucratic, sophisticated, complex, multifaceted system of monetary drivers that impact the lives of individual athletes. As one player exits there is another that emerges, and yet the larger system remains. In this way, individual players are expendable commodities that may receive some personal benefits, but whose personal needs may not be as important as the needs of the larger sport industrial complex. The bifurcation between sport and fitness will continue to be debated. Undoubtedly, physical fitness, emotional support, and social benefits of sport are important and beneficial. The 3 F’s of fitness, fun, and friendship have supported the advancement of sport. How sports can build upon its legacy of it being so good that access to it is considered a human right, in the face of skyrocketing examples of its use to be a divisive and exploitative force, must be weighed. Advocates for athlete human rights have an uphill battle to wage. This is why some collectives, like gymnasts who have been sexually abused or people with disabilities, have bonded together in legal actions and social movements in order to bring awareness to their right to rights. As sport has become globalized and institutionalized, will

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it be easier or harder for athletes to have their rights realized? Use of good methodologies, data collections, and the creation of theoretical frameworks and pedagogical approaches will be important to offset the amount of money and media coverage that emboldens the sports industry (Levy, 2013; Wilson, 2020; Zajda & Vissing, 2022, 2023).

References American Psychological Association. (2022). Discrimination: What it is and how to cope. https:// www.apa.org/topics/racism-bias-discrimination/types-stress Becker, D., Solberg, H., & Heyerdahl, G. (2022). The financial challenges of hosting sports events: A problem of insufficient separation between decision-making and decision-control. European Sport Management Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2022.2044366 Chang, C., Aerni, G., Diamond, A., Hong, E., Ingram, Y., Reardon, C., & Wolanin, A. (2020, March). Mental health issues and psychological factors in athletes: Detection, management, effect on performance, and prevention: American Medical Society for Sports Medicine position statement. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 30(2), e61–e87. https://doi.org/10.1097/JSM. 0000000000000817 Hensley-Clancy, M. (2022). Reeling from suicide. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost. com/sports/2022/05/19/college-athletes-suicide-mental-health/ Krug, A. (2023). Anti-doping rules: Which sports have the most violations? Health News. https://hea lthnews.com/fitness/physical-health/anti-doping-rules-which-sports-have-the-most-violations/ Levy, D. (2013). Coaching diversity is an issue in all American sports. Bleacher Report. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1520145-a-concern-in-nfl-coaching-diversity-is-anissue-in-all-american-sports Matza. M. (2023). Settlement after US student athlete Grant Brace died begging for water. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64985192 Posner, M. (2022). Why global sports events must include attention to human rights. Forbes. https:/ /www.forbes.com/sites/michaelposner/2022/12/05/why-global-sports-events-must-include-att ention-to-human-rights/?sh=1abf098fb533 Tavella, D. (2010). Duty of care to spectators at sporting events: A unified theory. Florida A & M University Law Review, 5. http://commons.law.famu.edu/famulawreview/vol5/iss2/4 Wilson, S. (2020). Biggest money scandals in sports. Yahoo News. https://www.yahoo.com/video/ biggest-ncaa-money-scandals-time-090329552.html Worden, M. (2022). Human rights abuses will taint Olympics and World Cup: It’s time to end sportswashing. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/05/human-rights-abu ses-will-taint-olympics-and-world-cup-its-time-end-sportswashing Zajda, J. (2019). (Ed.). Globalisation, ideology and politics of education reforms. Springer. Zajda, J. (2022). Globalisation and education reforms: Overcoming discrimination. Springer. Zajda, J., & Vissing, Y. (2022). Discourses of globalisation, ideology, and human rights. Springer. Zajda, J., & Vissing, Y. (2023). Globalisation, human rights, sports, and culture. Springer.

Correction to: Governance in the Socio-Cultural Role of Sports Kwan Meng Lee and Jady Zaidi Hassim

Correction to: Chapter 7 in: J. Zajda and Y. Vissing (eds.), Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_7 The original version of Chapter 7 has been updated with revised figures for Figs. 7.1 and 7.2. The correction has been updated with the changes.

The updated version of this chapter can be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_7

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing (eds.), Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8_10

C1

2

Fig. 7.1 Socio-cultural areas in the sport ecosystem

K. M. Lee and J. Z. Hassim

Correction to: Governance in the Socio-Cultural Role of Sports

3

Fig. 7.2 Socio-cultural issues of sports development in the sport pyramid. Source Adapted from Woods (2016)

Index

A Abramovich, 48 Abu-Lughod, J.L., 42 Access Board, 69 Aine, A., 83 Åkesdotter, C., 161 Albright, J.N., 19 Amnesty International, 55 American Psychological Association (APA), 176, 178 Arch Toolbox, 70 Arnold, R., 48, 49 Aron, I., 112, 113 Arrighi, G., 41 Aspen Institute, 27 Athlete human rights, 177 Athlete mental health, 172, 176 Athlete Mental Health Bill of Rights, 163 Athletes for Hope (AFH), 167 Audilet, M., 19 Augustyn, A., 98 Aurelius, M., 120

Bekius, D., 123 Bellin, E., 43 Belton, B., 151 Belton, C., 47, 48, 49 Bergesen, A., 43 Bhimarajka, H., 76 Birrell, S.J., 87 Blinder, A., 97, 102 Bloom, P., 42, 47 Bohannon, J., 97, 100, 102, 104 Boli, J., 42 Booker, C., 26 Boren, C., 97, 100 Boyce, D., 20 Branch, T., 96, 99 Brazilian Paralympics Center, 72 Breitbach, A.P., 13 Breitman, A., 97 Brenneman, R., 99 Brinton, C.S., 118 Brockbank, A., 19 Brodsky, S., 21

B Bacchi, U., 21 Baker, G., 96, 102–104 Black et al., 98 Banda, D., 7 Battle, I., 20 Baumgardner, N., 101 Baumol, W.J., 41 Bean, C.N., 14 Becker, H., 14 Becker, D., 173

C Caldwell, L.L., 149 Cha, V., 44–46 California Departmentt of Education, 30 Carbonaro, W., 116, 117, 119 Carney, R.W., 42 Caron, E., 102 Castells, M., 11 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 Chang, C., 172

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing (eds.), Globalisation, Human Rights, Sports, and Culture, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 37, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38457-8

179

180 Chappell, B., 98 Chen, X., 146 Chen, N., 47 Chiari, M., 52 Child USA, 20 Chon, M., 101 Christovich, A., 102 Clancy, S., 18 Clarey, C., 43 Coakley, J., 143 Coalter, F., 7, 150 Conn, D., 52, 53 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 174 Cooper, R.C., 53 Council of Europe, 82, 132 Covay, E., 116, 117, 119 Cunningham, G., 16 Curtis, 65

D Dams, T., 40 Danish, S. L., 150, 151 Datz, T., 3, 12, 23 Davies, G., 9 Dayan, D., 48 De Dycker, S., 145 Declarations of the rights of the Child (1959), 111 DeFreese, J.D., 161 DEI, 176 Delaney, T., 143 Dev, 29, 144, 149, 151 Dewey, J., 120, 123, 124 Dieringer, S.T., 117, 118 Di Lu, L., 152, 154 Dinich, H., 19 Discrimination, 176, 177 Dosh, K., 98

E Edginton, C.R., 140 Elcombe, T., 9 Elite athletes, 157 Elsborg, P., 13 Equality, 177 Ergon, 9 Evans, T., 25 Excellence, 142

Index F Farrey, T., 24 Fédération Internationale de Football Association or FIFA, 9 FIFA World Cup, 109 Fonseca, B., 96, 98 Forbes, C., 119 Foster, C., 84, 85 Fraser-Thomas, J.L., 141 Friedman, M., 41 G Gender Issues in Sports, 88 Gabriel, P., 161 Gaydos, R., 97, 102 Gender, 86 Gender and Sports, 88 Gender determination, 17 Gender discrimination, 89 Gender equality, 92 Ghadami, M., 146 Giorgi, A., 110 Giroux, H.A., 12 Giulianotti, R., 7 Goltz, F.R., 162 Governance, 143 Greenwald, B.D., 18 Gregory, S., 99 Grupe, O., 144, 145 Guo, Y., 135 Gurn, A., 144 Gutman, L.M., 119 H Habermas, J., 124 Hallman, C., 103 Harris, L.M., 160 Harris, R., 48 Hartmann, D., 7, 13 Hassim, J.Z., 136, 143 Hawkins, J., 97 He, X., 146 Heinemann, K., 144 Heinze, K.L., 152, 154 Heitner, D., 27 Henriksen, K., 159, 164 Henry, I., 146 Hensley-Clancy, M., 172 Herzog, W., 12 Higher education, 11 Hindman, L., 16 Hocker, R., 112

Index Hofstede, G., 149 Hollingshead, A., 121 Holmes, B., 99 Holt, N.L., 141 Huggins, M., 14 Hughson, J., 135 Human, 104 Human right, 1, 2, 32, 110–112, 170, 175, 177 Human rights lens, 32 Human rights perspective, 32

I Iacovides, I., 23 IDEA, 121, 125 International charter of physical education and sport (UNESCO, 2019), 144 International competitions, 89 International Paralympic Committee, 59 International sports and culture association (ISCA), 148 IOC, 82 IWAS World Cup Fencing, 68

J Jackson, S.J., 101 Jacobs, A., 28 James, R., 12 Jarvie, G., 135 Jarvis, P., 110, 118, 123, 124 Jin, H., 140 Jona, I.N., 90 Jones, R., 50 Judge, L.W., 117, 118

K Kalman-Lamb, N., 99, 103 Kelly, K., 42 Kelto, A., 24 Kehr, B., 24 Kharpal, A., 43 Kiefer, M., 15 KIrchgaessner, S., 51 Kirkpatrick, D.D., 42 Kissinger, H., 44 Kleigman, J., 17 Klein, E., 121 KMD Law, 20 Kolb, D., 124 Kong, P., 160 Kramers, S., 118, 120, 123

181 Kraus, 140 Krawczyk, Z., 145 Krishnakumar, P., 16 Krug, A., 172 Kuper, S., 53 Kuttner, R., 46 Kwauk, C., 7

L Land, B., 16 Lang, M., 83, 123 Lengyel, L.S., 113 Lenk, H., 144 Leonard, W.M. II, 141 Levitt, H., 46 LGBTQI, 15 LGBTQI individuals, 9 Li, H., 152 Lim, A., 44–46 Lindsey, I., 7 Lipset, S.M., 43 Livers, 104 Loprest, P., 112, 113 Lorincz, K., 97 Luo, B., 146 Lüschen, G., 85

M MacDonald, D.J., 150 Madigan, T., 143 Mahoney, 153 Major League Baseball (MLB), 22 Mandela, N., 169 Matza, M., 172 McArthur, J., 11 McCollough, J.B., 97, 102 McGill, I., 19 McIsaac, T., 150 McKinnon, A., 17 McMahan, I., 99 Meltzer, A., 19 Mental Health Parity Act (1996), 162 Meredith, R., 40 Mertens, M., 16 Messing, S., 81 Meyer, K.L., 16 Miller, N., 9 Min, J., 140 Moore, B., 42 Morgan, H., 7, 19, 20 Morrison, D., 19

182 Mrkonjic, M., 145, 146, 148 Mueller, A., 101 Mull, R.F., 134, 139, 141

N Nalwasky, C., 97 NAMI, 160 National Athletic Trainers Association, 29 National College Players Association, 100 National Institutes of Health, 18 NCAA, 25, 104, 158 Neely, K.C., 141 Neoclassical economics, 41 NIL rights, 104 Nylen, L., 104

O Ohio Valley Region, 31 Okou, F.T., 90 Orlick, T., 142

P Palmer, A.N., 117 Parfitt, T., 43 Park, H., 101 Parker, A., 7, 19 Paulsen, R., 16 Perez, J. Jr., 104 Petro, N., 39, 40 Physical abuses, 172 Physical health, 18, 23 Pica, E., 17, 25 Pipe, A., 14 Piper, H., 19 Pisacone, J., 112, 113, 117 Plows, A., 98 Population Matters, 77 Positive youth development (PYD), 17 Posner, M., 173 Pozzulo, J., 17 Price, M.E., 48 Princes, 50 Project play, 98 PTSD, 125 Putin, Vladimir, 48 Pozzulo, J., 25

Q Quinn, B., 101

Index R Radice, H., 11 Raffo, C., 119 Reicher, D., 135 Reynolds, J.F., 24 Ricciardelli, M., 100 Richman, J., 51 Roberts, V., 17, 18 Robinson, J., 48, 53, 54, 55 Roche, K.M., 16 Rodesiler, L., 151 Rodriquez, J., 118 Rothenberg, B., 43 RSP, 89 Ryba, T.V., 110, 118 S Sahler, C.S., 18 Schwartz, S.E.O., 19 Scott, W.R., 152 Seidman, D., 21 Sekhri, A., 122 Self-actualization, 123 Self fulfilling prophecy (SFP), 179 Serra, P., 83 Sex abuse, 20 Sexual abuse, 25, 172 Schoon, I., 119 Shepherd, 61 Shulruf, B., 117, 118 Shumate, Sean, 67 Silver, B.J., 41 Silverman, R., 46 Siperstein, G.N., 117 Smith, A.L., 161 Social health, 23 Social inequality, 13 Social justice, 177 Socio-cultural context, 141 Socio-cultural issues, 141 Sojo, V., 18 Sopa, I.S., 140 Sport, 1, 29, 144, 149, 151 Sport ecosystem, 143 Sports activities, 136 Sports culture, 145, 146 Sports ecosystem, 138 Sports governance, 145 Sports industry, 22 Sports psychology, 11 Sports pyramid, 134 Stattin, 153 Stirling, A.E., 120, 123

Index Streeter, K., 25 Strum, P., 113 Student athletes, 26, 123 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 76

T Tavella, D., 175 The American with Disability Act (1990), 161 The Atlantic (2021), 99 Theune, F., 16 Thomas, G.M., 42 Thompson, J., 101 Thompson, A., 145 Tian, S., 146 Tierney, H., 151 Tiwari, S., 48 Tok, M.E., 52 Tokarski, W., 12 Torkildsen, G., 139, 140 Tracy, M., 25 Tynes, T., 100

U UDHR (1948), 110 UNESCO (1994), 112 UNESCO (2017), 151 UNICEF, 139, 140 United Nations, 3, 82, 90 United Nations (1948), 110 United Nations Human Rights Council, 77 USIS, 89

V Vamplew, W., 22 Vanbergeijk, E., 113 van der Putten, F.P., 40 Veal, A.J., 76 Veroutsos, E., 3 VinZant, N., 21 Virtue, D.C., 123 Vissing, Y., 25 Vittadini, G., 116, 118

183 Voight, K., 21 Voyles, C., 16

W Wagstaff, C.R.D., 12 Wagstaff, M., 7 Wald, E.R., 49, 50 Wallace, L., 18 Wallerstein, I., 43 Wamsley, L., 97 Wang, J., 3 WBAP, 162 Wheelchair Fencing World Championships, 70 Whitley, M.A., 11, 12 WHO (2022), 161 Wilco, D., 98 Wills, M., 15 Winchester, G., 122 Witt, P.A., 149 Wolff, E., 29 Woods, R.B., 134, 139 Worden, M., 173 Wretman, C.J., 118 Wright, P.D., 113 Wright, P.W.D., 113 Witz, B., 97, 102

X Xue, R., 152

Y Yell, M.L., 111, 112 Young, J., 98 Yost, W., 72 Yurcaba, J., 16 Yusof, A., 140 Yusof, W.M., 149

Z Zajda, J., 176, 177 Zarotis, G., 12