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Assessment 2
Sports Mega-Events and Human Rights: a critical comparison of Sochi 2014
Winter Olympic Games with Berlin 1936 and Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic
Games
LT7099 Critical Issues in Sports Management
Autumn Semester 2013 - 2014
IVAN PASQUARIELLO (12057777)
London Metropolitan Business School
Sports Management
15th
January 2014
Module Leader: Charles Little

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Table of Contents
1) Introduction 3
2) A Definition of Human Rights 3
3) Human Rights in the History of Sports Mega-Events 4
4) Human Rights and Sports Mega-Events Today 5
5) The Case Study: 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games and Gay Rights 6
6) Comparing Sochi 2014 with Berlin 1936 7
7) Comparing Sochi 2014 with Sydney 2000 8
8) Conclusion 10
9) References 11

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1) Introduction
In a world where globalization has become the most important trend in every market, the
sports industry is no exception, extending its influence in most parts of the globe. Trade
mark for the sport industry to explore new markets is the hosting of sports mega-events all
around the world. Sports mega-events are defined as large-scale cultural events, which have
a dramatic character, mass popular appeal and international significance (Roche, 2000).
Over the years, nations proposed themselves as hosts for major sports events for different
reasons. For example, London hosted the 2012 Olympics to promote a physical regeneration
of the industrial waste ground of the Lower Lea Valley area of East London (Silk, 2011). To
be the host of an important event grants major media coverage all around the globe,
becoming a shortcut to gain international prestige. Previously, nations proposed themselves
to host sports mega-events with the final intension of promoting a regime, as it has been for
Germany’s choice of hosting the 1936 Olympic Games, which became an intention of
propaganda for Hitler’s Nazi party.
Despite the reason standing behind the choice of a nation to host a sport mega-event, the
final outcome is that that decision is going to have an impact on the host and its population.
It could be an impact on the city or region urbanisation, erecting landmark structures or
even renewing urban space (Ritchie, 1984, Hall, 1997). It could be an impact bringing
economic opportunities and expansion for the host’s economy. Also, the decision could have
a negative impact on the hosting nation, allowing a media focus on its political issues. As the
globalization of sports brought disciplines to be played in most parts of the world, political
issues happened to be a focal point of discussion in the exploration of new frontiers and
markets. A major issue related to previous and future hosts of sports mega-events has been
the respect of human rights among the hosting nations. This essay will further discuss the
significance of human rights and their application to the practise of sport and the promotion
of sports events, with a focus on the recent case study of Sochi hosting the 2014 Winter
Olympic Games, despite a clear opposition from Russia to the recognition of gay rights.
2) A Definition of Human Rights
First, in order to understand the possible issues that relate human rights with the hosting of
sports mega-events, we will have to present whit the definition of human rights. The Oxford
Dictionary defines human rights as the rights and freedom to which every human being is
entitled (Oxford Dictionary of Law, 2009). The first time that the term ‘human rights’ has
been used was by the end of the eighteenth century, with the French Declaration of the

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Rights of Man and of the Citizen, but it then became of wide currency only in the middle of
the twentieth century (Griffin, 2008). In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted
in Paris the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration consists in 30 articles,
providing the rights every human being should be entitled. First article of the Universal
Declaration affirms that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights
(United Nations, 1948).
3) Human Rights in the history Sports Mega-Events
Surprisingly, a history of concern over human rights related to sports, happens to be dated
more than 70 years ago, before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was even
published. In 1936 the city of Berlin hosted the Summer Olympic Games. The International
Olympic Committee (IOC) selected the German capital to host the Olympics over Barcelona
in 1931. Two years later the Nazi party, led by Adolf Hitler, assumed power. Many
controversies started soon after the election of Hitler as Chancellor. For the first time, the
issue of human rights was related to the host of a sports mega-event, with a particular focus
on the rights of Jewish athletes in their chances of competing for Germany. As the Nazis
grew in power, many different nations proposed boycotting. American Olympic Committee
sent Avery Brundage to Berlin, in order to investigate the situation in Germany in 1934. In
the end, only Spain did not participate in those Olympic Games, because of their civil war
(BBC Sport, 2004). Hitler did not allow Jewish athletes to compete for Germany. In 1936,
the Olympics were all set to become an occasion of propaganda for the Nazi party.
Human Rights and their defence have been the centre of attention of a study conducted by
Matheson and Finkel on sex trafficking related to the Olympics in Athens (2004), Beijing
(2008) and Vancouver (2010), and the FIFA World Cup in Germany (2006) and South Africa
(2010). The argument standing at the base of the debate is that an increase in population,
caused by the sport event in the region, brings a heightened request for sexual services,
which can be met partly with trafficking women (Matheson, Finkel 2012). As sex traffic is
directly linked with prostitution it has to be considered a violation of women’s human rights
and was studied within research on the tourism industry (Jeffreys, 1999). Even though
Hayes in 2010 argued that to gather empirical data on sex trafficking would be impossible
(Haynes, 2010), the group of research in Edinburgh collected percentage data to
demonstrate the link between the sports mega-events and an increase in sex trafficking. It
was claimed that over 40,000 women were trafficked for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games
and the 2006 German World Cup (Hayes, 2010; Hennig et al., 2007). In the Greek case it
was estimated that there was a 95% increase in the number of Victims in Human Trafficking

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in 2004, with the number that declined after the end of the Games (Future Group, 2007). In
the case of Vancouver the city was facilitated to enhance sex trafficking due to its closeness
to the USA, being at the same time a gateway to access Asia (Matcheson, Finkel 2012). As
we know, sports mega-events bring the attention of the media, and of government and non-
government organisations. Those organisations organized to scrutinise current and future
hosts, in order to assure that women’s human rights are not going to be violated in the
interest of sports mega-events.
In the history of human rights and sport mega-events it has to be cited the debate
surrounding Beijing’s bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games. The plot relates to the story of
Peng Yuzhang, a seventy year-old dissident professor who was handcuffed to a wooden
shackle board for a period of three months by the Chinese authorities (Mastrocola, 1995). As
China was bidding to host the 2000 Olympic Games, the story became famous in the media,
as Robert Benstein, who was the Human Rights Watch chairman in 1993, decided to send a
letter to the International Olympic Committee, focusing on Yuzhang’s case and asserting
that the idea of imprisonment and torture collided with the ideals of freedom on which the
Olympics are based. Beijing’s bid also received the official opposition from the United States
Government. The date is important because for the first time the public raised the attention
on the respect of Human Rights in the selection of which nation the IOC had to select to
host the Olympic Games. In the end, Sydney was selected over Beijing in 1993. Few years
after that, even the Olympics in Australia ended up rising political issues related to human
rights, as the indigenous community threatened to organise public demonstrations.
4) Human Rights and Sports Mega-Events Today
Nowadays the relation between human rights and sports mega-events is still the centre of a
major debate. The most recent decisions made by the IOC and FIFA to host the 2016
Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and the Soccer World Cup in Qatar in 2022, where
surrounded by political issues and demonstrations. In Brazil, the government promised to
the population that it was not going to have public funding used in order to create the
venues for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics , but failed to maintain that
promise (Business Insider, 2013). As a result, the population gave public demonstrations of
malcontent, comparing the poverty of the region, with people who currently fail to have a
home in some areas of the nation, with the expenses made by the government to organize
these events. It was once again human rights against sports mega-events.

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Even the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar raised perplexity and attention on human rights for
the mistreatment of foreign workers in the country (Huffingtonpost.com, 2013) causing
public demonstrations.
5) The Case Study: 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games and Gay Rights
These recent case studies reveal the actuality of the issue on human rights in sports mega-
events and bring us to the main focus of this essay, which will be on the choice made by the
IOC to organize the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the Russian city of Sochi and the
consequent focus on the concern of the LGBT Community about the safety of gay athletes
competing in Russia.
Sochi was selected by the IOC to host the 2014 Olympic Games in 2007. It was only starting
from 2013 that issues related to Gay Rights and athletes participating in the Olympics were
raised. In June 2013 the Russian Parliament, the Duma, passed a law that prohibits
propaganda of “non-traditional sexual relations” to minors, without a dissenting vote
(NewYorker, 2013). The law promises fines and retaliation for any individual caught
transmitting informations regarding gay relationships to a minor. Soon after the Russian
Government’s decision, all the most important LGBT associations around the world raised
concerns for the safety of gay athletes competing at the Olympics.
British broadcaster Stephen Fry wrote an open letter to Jacque Rogge, head of the
International Olympic Committee, requiring a demand to the Russian government for further
clarifications on how the law will affect the regular progress of the Olympics in Sochi, as
many homosexual athletes will be competing to win a medal (BBC News, 2013). After
visiting Moscow in December 2013, Rogge assured deeper investigation, stressing the fact
that under the Olympic charter, sport was a human right and therefore had to be available
to everyone, regardless of their race or sexual orientation (BBC, 2013).
As the media attention on the issue increased over the months approaching the actual
event, the IOC was required to intervene in order to prevent nations from boycotting the
games. For that reason, IOC president Thomas Bach with Russian gay rights activists on
November 2013 to ensure deeper investigation and assured that athletes were not going to
be discriminated at the Olympic Games in Sochi, as confirmed by the Russian government
(CTV News, 2013).

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Besides the IOC’s reassurance, Sochi 2014 will not see a Pride House, a temporary location
which plays host to LGBT athletes at the Olympic Games, as it has been for the Winter
Games in Vancouver 2010, the Summer Games in London 2012 and the UEFA Euro 2012.
Whereas in the previous concerns regarding human rights and sport mega events, the
public demonstrations have been rare, for Sochi 2014 there has been already public
malcontent expressed all over the globe. Russian President Vladimir Putin was insulted by a
dissident group when he made a visit to Sochi in 2013 (Aljazeera America, 2013).
As February and the official start of the Winter Games approaches, many LGBT activists
tried to convince the major sponsors of the event such as Coca-Cola or McDonald’s to
boycott the Olympics to show support to the gay community. Two months before the start
of the event, the press predicts that Sochi will be hit by protests and boycotts over anti-gay
laws (Metro, 2014).
USA’S President Barack Obama revealed that he will not be attending the games, and in
order to show the support of his country, has included openly gay athletes as part of the
USA’s delegation that will be sent to compete in Sochi (Reuters, 2013).
The Sochi Olympic Games have indeed raised a great amount of attention on human rights,
pushing the IOC to take a position in order to prevent political issues to become the focal
point of the event. The IOC made it clear that according to the Rule-50 of the Olympic
Charter, no kind of political demonstration or propaganda will be permitted in Sochi
(Olympic Charter, 2014). At the same time the International Olympic Committee revealed
that athletes will be free to express their opinions on the anti-gay Russian law, as long as
they will do that away from accredited areas (The Guardian, 2013). Also, the IOC confirmed
that the organisers of the Games will provide “protests zones” to allow demonstrations in a
serene contest (The Guardian, 2013).
On the other hand, Russia’s minister of Sports, Vitaly Mutko, affirmed that pro-gay
protesters will be subject to arrest (America Blog, 2013).
We will now compare the Sochi case study with two previous Olympic Games that faced a
similar climate approaching the starting date, in order to further explore the risks of public
protests and disorders in Sochi during the Winter Games.
6) Comparing Sochi 2014 with Berlin 1936
Berlin 1936 were the first Olympic Games to rise concerns regarding the safety of athletes
competing, linking their fear with the possible violation of human rights. In the end,

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Chancellor Adolf Hitler did not allow Jewish athletes to compete for Germany, but others
called to compete from their nations safely performed in Berlin. Despite the possible threat,
foreign athletes did not face persecution depending on their race or religion, making sports
a vehicle for an armistice from political tensions. What was supposed to be an occasion for
propaganda from the Nazi party in its purpose of showcasing the superiority of the Aryan
race to a worldwide audience, happened to be a stumble for Hitler, as black American
athlete Jesse Owens won four gold medals (BBC Sport, 2004). All the nations that proposed
a boycott in the end participated and no major protests happened to take place in Berlin
during the competitions.
There are few similarities comparing Sochi 2014 with Berlin 1936. Both Olympic Games
faced a climate of intense political tension approaching the event. As it happened for Berlin,
it was the American government that mostly spoke about possible issues related with the
Games and the safety of their athletes in Sochi. Whereas almost 80 years ago, the American
Government sent Avery Brundage to check the situation of human rights in Germany, in
2014 USA’s President Barack Obama has made clear to the media its intention of not
participating in the opening ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games. In order to clarify
and strengthen his position, Obama sent to Sochi openly gay athletes as part of the
American team, hoping they will be successful. USA’s President revealed to the press that
rather than boycotting the Games in Sochi, he would be glad to see a gay athlete winning a
medal, thus sending a message to Vladimir Putin that reminds of the one Jesse Owens sent
to Hitler in 1936 (Reuters, 2013).
The defence of gay rights in the Sochi Olympics has found strong support in other highly
influential political figures such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British PM David
Cameron (RT, 2013). The popular support of International leaders is what distinguishes the
Sochi Olympics from the Berlin ones, collocating the plot in a perfect contest of modern era,
where globalisation also means that political issues related to sports events can be raised in
a concrete defence of human rights, preventing any possible violation. As Vladimir Putin has
been invited by other leaders to respect gay rights in Sochi, the Russian president will be
unwilling to promote propaganda of Russia’s anti-gay rules, trying to put sport as the only
focal point of the manifestation.
As it happened for Berlin, therefore, gay athletes are predicted not to face discrimination
and their safety should not be considered in danger.
7) Comparing Sochi 2014 with Sydney 2000

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The Sochi 2014 case study also shares similarities with the situation faced in Australia as
Sydney got ready to host the Summer Olympic Games in 2000. Back then the issue on
human rights referred to the recognition of the rights of the Australian Aboriginal
Community. Approaching the Olympics in Sydney, many Indigenous leaders had threatened
to plan organized protests in order to draw International attention to Australia’s address
social problems related to the Indigenous community (Morgan, 2003).
In order to deal with the political issues related to those Games, the IOC and the organizers
of the Opening Ceremony in Sydney, smartly decided to celebrate the Indigenous culture
and community, narrating the stories and filling the ceremony with imagery of reconciliation,
which included the choreography of an Aboriginal man holding the hand of an all-Australian
girl walking together into a united future (Morgan, 2003). The ploy worked well and no
further threats of protest or boycott were made in Sydney during the competition. To further
celebrate a climate of unity, Aboriginal runner Cathy Freeman won the 400 meters race,
celebrating in the Olympic Stadium holding together the Aboriginal flag and the Australian
flag, bringing the greatest example of political symbolism associated with a sport event.
The political tension related to the Sochi Olympic Games is unlikely to find a similar solution.
First of all, the Russian Government and the organizers of the Games have revealed no
intention to celebrate the gay community in a climate of reconciliation. The anti-gay law has
been made to prohibit pro-gay statements to minors, therefore it is unlikely that the Russian
Government will allow the submission of positive messages associated with the gay
community during the Opening Ceremony. To further clarify Russia’s opposition to gay
rights, the Orthodox Church proposed in January 2014 a referendum on banning
homosexual relations, despite the Western pressure over human rights (Huffington Post,
2014).
Cathy Freeman was allowed to flaunt the Aboriginal’s flag after her victory, whereas for
Sochi, the athletes have been prohibited by the IOC to even wear rainbow pins in support of
the gay community. Therefore, the victory of a gay athlete will unlikely be seen as a
symbolism of reconciliation, as a rainbow flag will not allowed to be waved at the Stadia.
The reluctance showed by the Russian Government to bring the argument of gay rights into
further discussion is what distinguishes Sochi from Sydney and it is what will not allow the
same climate of positive reconciliation approaching the event. If in Sydney no protests have
been made, the same situation could not present itself in Sochi. Further support over gay

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rights has been shown by popular actors and influential figures, thus increasing the chances
of public protest in Russia in February, when the Olympic Games will officially start.
8) Conclusion
A history of human rights in association with sports mega-events has demonstrate to have
deep roots in the construction of modern society. The previous cases of Berlin, Sydney and
Vancouver, have found similar plots in the most recent events organized in Brazil, Qatar and
Sochi. The actuality of the problem reflects a need to deeper investigate the consequences
of globalisation in the pressure to ensure human rights, not only for athletes competing, but
also for the population of the hosting nation. Sochi 2014 could be an important turning point
in the history of political issues and their access to sports mega-events. Unlikely the Olympic
Games in Berlin, the Winter Olympics in Sochi will see an important International pressure
on Russia to respect human rights. Unlikely the Olympic Games in Sydney, the organizers in
Russia seem unwilling to promote reconciliation. For that reason, it is licit to expect public
demonstrations surrounding the Olympic Games, putting pressure on the IOC in their future
decision of which nations to choose as hosts of the Games.

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