Resolution: | Red Card for Sportwashing |
---|---|
Proposer: | Scottish Young Greens |
Status: | Published |
Submitted: | 05/17/2022, 15:21 |
R13 A3: Red Card for Sportwashing
Motion text
Insert after line 37:
- Sports clubs to be prevented from being acquired by regimes for the purpose of sportswashing;
One of the principles 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. We understand that human
dignity should neither be exclusive to nor withheld from any ethnicity, gender,
language, religion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Unfortunately, sports have been instrumentalised by certain countries and
regimes to hide their record of grave human rights violations and at times
glorify a personality cult to serve as a distraction. This is called
sportwashing. A very notorious case is the 1936 Summer and Winter Olympics
hosted by and held in Nazi Germany. Going into recent times, more and more cases
of sportwashing are being committed: the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the 2022
Winter Olympics in China, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar to name some. The
preparations for the latter are being plagued by cases of migrant workers
working under dangerous conditions with little to no pay, extremely low
standards of living, and deaths caused by preventable workplace accidents.
We young greens believe that no country which engages in severe human rights
abuses such as forced labour, genocide, and war crimes may be allowed to host
major international sport tournaments such as but not limited to Olympic Games
and world championships. Furthermore, similarly severe human rights abuses such
as forced labour, forced displacement, and persecution of national and cultural
minorities in the process of preparing for these games are unacceptable and
should lead to the host country being changed or the games suspended, as well as
other sanctions (e.g. fines or bans from future competitions).
Therefore we, the Federation of Young European Greens, call for:
a reform of the International Olympic Committee’s Code of Ethics where
severe human rights abuses in the process of preparing for the games
should lead to the host country being changed or the games suspended, as
well as other sanctions where necessary (e.g. fines or bans from future
competitions);
a reform of the Rule of Conduct for Host Countries and the hosting process
where human rights abuses in the process of preparing for the games must
at all times be avoided, where countries with history of human rights
violations must closely consult and be supervised by the International
Olympic Committee, and in case of violation an appropriate sanction can be
put on the host country;
to apply these provisions analogously to international sports federations
with their respective international sporting events and competitions;
- Sports clubs to be prevented from being acquired by regimes for the purpose of sportswashing;
the revival of the Olympic Truce as an absolute requirement during the
Olympic Games. It means no country will engage in an armed conflict seven
days before the start of each Olympic Games and until the eighth day after
the conclusion of the Paralympics. Its violation should also be sanctioned
forcefully.
Insert after line 37:
- Sports clubs to be prevented from being acquired by regimes for the purpose of sportswashing;
One of the principles 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. We understand that human
dignity should neither be exclusive to nor withheld from any ethnicity, gender,
language, religion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Unfortunately, sports have been instrumentalised by certain countries and
regimes to hide their record of grave human rights violations and at times
glorify a personality cult to serve as a distraction. This is called
sportwashing. A very notorious case is the 1936 Summer and Winter Olympics
hosted by and held in Nazi Germany. Going into recent times, more and more cases
of sportwashing are being committed: the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the 2022
Winter Olympics in China, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar to name some. The
preparations for the latter are being plagued by cases of migrant workers
working under dangerous conditions with little to no pay, extremely low
standards of living, and deaths caused by preventable workplace accidents.
We young greens believe that no country which engages in severe human rights
abuses such as forced labour, genocide, and war crimes may be allowed to host
major international sport tournaments such as but not limited to Olympic Games
and world championships. Furthermore, similarly severe human rights abuses such
as forced labour, forced displacement, and persecution of national and cultural
minorities in the process of preparing for these games are unacceptable and
should lead to the host country being changed or the games suspended, as well as
other sanctions (e.g. fines or bans from future competitions).
Therefore we, the Federation of Young European Greens, call for:
a reform of the International Olympic Committee’s Code of Ethics where
severe human rights abuses in the process of preparing for the games
should lead to the host country being changed or the games suspended, as
well as other sanctions where necessary (e.g. fines or bans from future
competitions);
a reform of the Rule of Conduct for Host Countries and the hosting process
where human rights abuses in the process of preparing for the games must
at all times be avoided, where countries with history of human rights
violations must closely consult and be supervised by the International
Olympic Committee, and in case of violation an appropriate sanction can be
put on the host country;
to apply these provisions analogously to international sports federations
with their respective international sporting events and competitions;
- Sports clubs to be prevented from being acquired by regimes for the purpose of sportswashing;
the revival of the Olympic Truce as an absolute requirement during the
Olympic Games. It means no country will engage in an armed conflict seven
days before the start of each Olympic Games and until the eighth day after
the conclusion of the Paralympics. Its violation should also be sanctioned
forcefully.