International sport: for kings or tyrants?

Citation

McAdam, B. (2012), "International sport: for kings or tyrants?", International Journal of Law in the Built Environment, Vol. 4 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijlbe.2012.41104caa.001

International sport: for kings or tyrants?

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Law in the Built Environment, Volume 4, Issue 3

In the course of 2012 Britain has been wracked by sporting fever. In July, Bradley Wiggins won the Tour De France – the first British cyclist ever to do so. In August, athletes from around the world gathered to contest Olympic laurels in London. Global audiences in the billions were awed by the physical prowess of runners, rowers, swimmers, gymnasts, sportsmen and women of every discipline. Almost every year international sport spectaculars draw the focus of the world and in every case the stage on which the drama unfolds is newly built, or at the very least newly refurbished. The relentless, interleaved quadrennial timetables of the Olympics and the football World Cup concentrate vast programmes of infrastructure development on city after city all around the planet. Perhaps we remember the beguiling “Bird’s Nest” stadium in Beijing, or we anticipate with surprised amazement the technological miracles promised by Qatar’s 2022 stadia. On their day, in the white heat of competition, these venues add majesty and grace to the athletic endeavours playing out upon them. And yet, when we glance aside from the ephemeral glare of sport’s crucible, we gradually make out the wider context in which these events occur.

China faces much international criticism relating to human rights violations, but specifically in relation to Olympic development Broudehoux (2007) presents a damning account of the construction process, which she argues was largely effected by migrant labourers, who, if paid at all, were given subsistence wages and expected to work seven days a week and sometimes to sleep on unfinished floors of ongoing construction projects (Broudehoux, 2007, p. 390). The lobbying organisation Human Rights Watch has carried out research this year (HRW, 2012) which indicates that very similar practices currently characterise the construction industry in Qatar, suggesting that, unless steps are taken to implement major change very quickly, the wondrous monuments to sporting excellence promised by the organisers of Qatar 2022 may ultimately be constructed by something approaching slave labour. In the interests of balance it is important to note that FIFA (2011) have indicated that they are aware of the issue and are taking steps to ensure appropriate standards are in place and only a handful of the interviewees providing data to Human Rights Watch were already engaged on 2022 projects.

Displacement of population and compulsory purchase are another feature which characterises large-scale infrastructure projects, and which Broudehoux also highlights in relation to the Beijing Olympics. On a wider level Ocheje (2007) argues that whilst state institutions rely on utilitarian public good justifications for displacing population and acquiring land in the course of completing infrastructure projects, in many cases these arguments do not withstand close scrutiny from a human rights perspective. Certainly the United Nations considers there is a global problem with so-called “forced evictions”. The UN’s Advisory Group on Forced Evictions was set up to investigate this problem. The Group reports how across the world, states from the UK to Ghana are all too ready to displace populations for their own ends, without, in all cases, taking proper steps to look to the interests of the displaced persons. These practices are by no means limited only to projects arising from international sporting events, though that is one of the events which is reported to have been implicated (United Nations, 2007). Forced evictions are described in many cases in relation to slum clearances, for example in Brazil, which is due to host both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Anecdotal evidence suggests that local populations in Rio de Janeiro are currently being inappropriately displaced in order to cater for the Olympics (Bames, 2012).

Looking ahead over the next decade or so, as well as Brazil in 2014 and 2016 and Qatar in 2022, Russia will be carrying out significant construction in preparation for the 2018 World Cup, and Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid are currently vying for the right to host the 2020 Olympics. International sport provides an opportunity for the whole world to marvel at the pinnacle of human physical achievement. Currently there seems a real risk that these opportunities may become increasingly marred by association with human rights abuses effected during the preparation processes. Scrutiny by legal academics and wide publication of their conclusions is one method for reducing that risk and perhaps the pages of future issues of this journal will cast some light into the darker corners of mega-infrastructure project procurement.

Brodie McAdam