Mega-sporting events and children’s rights and interests – towards a better future

Abstract

The public subsidy of Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup hosting opportunities is invariably justified on the basis that they will secure a range of public good outcomes. Problematically, the information available inspires less confidence that these ambitions will be met and highlights how social costs and benefits are unevenly distributed. As a result, interest in the social dimension of hosting has grown, yet the knowledge to support responsive and evidence-based events policy remains relatively underdeveloped, particularly in relation to the specific needs and experiences of affected communities. The impact on children as a particularly stakeholder group reflects this context of recognition and knowledge gap. For example, while it is accepted that immovable deadlines and risk of reputational consequences raise a variety of social justice concerns throughout the event lifecycle, the nature and scale of these impacts on children is poorly understood and frequently mismanaged. Findings drawn from research commissioned by Terre des Hommes International Federation which explored the intersections between children’s rights and social justice concerns highlights how such initiatives present risks and opportunities that cannot be managed effectively until children are included within associated planning processes as a specific stakeholder group with distinct needs and interests.

Keywords:

• Olympics
• FIFA
• human rights
• children
• mega-events
• social justice

Notes

1. TDHIF is a network of national organisations that work to advance children’s rights and development MSEs are an explicit focus linked to their ‘Children Win’ Campaign launched in 2014. See http://www.childrenwin.org/who-we-are/ and http://www.terredeshommes.org/ for further information.

2. In this analysis the theme of Corruption was not pursued individually due to insufficient evidence, instead it was approached as a cross-cutting theme that influenced impacts across all issue areas.

3. Not stated as related to MSEs, however as the textile industry is a key supplier for MSEs it is reasonable to accept the children’s feedback as illustrative of the issues that would be experienced elsewhere, which offers an insight that is currently unavailable in MSE research.

4. The Kafala system is a sponsorship system used by Gulf Cooperation Council countries to manage their migrant workforces. Under this system foreign workers need to be sponsored by a local citizen or local company in order for their work visas and residency to be valid and they are unable to change jobs, resign or enter or leave the country without the permission of their employer. For more information see Priyanka Motaparthy’s explanation on http://www.migrant-rights.org/2015/03/understanding-kafala-an-archaic-law-at-cross-purposes-with-modern-development/ (accessed 27/07/2015).

5. See http://www.ethicaltrade.org/eti-base-code for full details of the Code.

6. These characteristics also preclude the ability to determine with confidence how far the initiatives have been designed and determined by adults rather than through a process that actively engages children in the planning process.

7. See http://www.olympic.org/olympic-agenda-2020 for more information.

8. See http://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/news/y=2015/m=7/news=fifa-executive-committee-sets-presidential-election-for-26-february-20-2666448.html for more information (accessed 28/08/2015).