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Home / Event Management, Volume 27, Number 6

Open Access The State of Play Between Managing Major Sports Events and Human Rights: a Scoping Review

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This scoping review integrates literature from diverse perspectives to better understand when and how management of major sport events promotes or harms human rights. The authors critically review 130 peer-reviewed English language articles to identify conceptual contributions to research and practice. The findings reveal that politics and political reform, legal frameworks, and organizational actions are crucial influences in when and how management of events promotes or harms human rights. The most frequently considered rights in the literature are: equality, human trafficking related, sport as a human right, worker rights, and freedom of residence. Activism for human rights stimulates change within relevant stakeholders via collaboration, naming and shaming, in-public debates, and media coverage. The committed, transparent, and inclusive consideration of human rights in all stages of managing sport events (from bid preparation, bidding, planning, and hosting to postevent leverage) may increase the likelihood that the event has social benefits.

Keywords: EQUALITY; FREEDOM; HUMAN TRAFFICKING; INCLUSIVITY; SPORT; WORKER RIGHTS

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany 2: College of Natural Resources, Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA 3: Research Centre for Business in Society, Business School, Coventry University, Coventry, UK 4: Department of Business Administration, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden 5: School of Business & Creative Industries, Chair of Event and Digital Cultures, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, Scotland 6: School of Kinesiology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada 7: School of Sport, Recreation, and Tourism, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA 8: Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

Publication date: October 3, 2023

This article was made available online on March 24, 2023 as a Fast Track article with title: "THE STATE OF PLAY BETWEEN MANAGING MAJOR SPORTS EVENTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS: A SCOPING REVIEW".

More about this publication?
  • Event Management, an International Journal, intends to meet the research and analytic needs of a rapidly growing profession focused on events. This field has developed in size and impact globally to become a major business with numerous dedicated facilities, and a large-scale generator of tourism. The field encompasses meetings, conventions, festivals, expositions, sport and other special events. Event management is also of considerable importance to government agencies and not-for-profit organizations in a pursuit of a variety of goals, including fund-raising, the fostering of causes, and community development.

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