Geopolitics, Globalisation, and Human Rights in International Sport
Theoretical Foundations of Global Sport: Globalisation, Cosmopolitanism, and the Liberal International Order
The global expansion and organisation of modern sport are intertwined with three core socio-political concepts (Houlihan, 2022):
Globalisation: Emphasises cultural interconnectedness, movement of people, ideas, and cultural products, increasing cultural homogeneity, and the weakened role and capacity of the nation-state (Houlihan, 2022).
Liberal International Order (LIO): Emphasises the prominent role of international organisations (e.g., United Nations, World Trade Organization, International Olympic Committee), the significance of binding international agreements, technocratic governance, and the marginalisation or ceding of state sovereignty (Houlihan, 2022).
Cosmopolitanism: A normative, outward-looking orientation defined by an openness to diverse cultures, a reduced emphasis on territoriality, post-nationalism, and a moral obligation to care for human beings beyond national borders based on shared humanity (Beck & Sznaider, 2006; Delanty, 2003; Fozdar & Woodward, 2021; Houlihan, 2022).
Kantian Enlightenment Foundations: The institutional and normative frameworks governing global sport are historically rooted in Western liberal values derived from Immanuel Kant's moral and legal philosophy (Follesdal & Maliks, 2014; Fasoro, 2019; Brown & Andenas, 2020; Houlihan, 2022):
The fundamental dignity of human beings and the imperative to treat individuals as ends in themselves, rather than as mere means to political or economic ends.
The equal and universal right of every individual to freedom, structured in a manner compatible with the freedom of all others.
A universally cosmopolitan legal framework that applies rights and protections globally, regardless of social status, gender, ethnicity, or religious belief.
Western Hegemony in Global Sport: Between the and the , Western powers dominated the economic, technological, and political infrastructure of global sport (Houlihan, 2022). Non-Western emerging sports powers (such as China, Japan, South Korea, and Middle Eastern sovereign investors) largely adopted Western sports business formats, such as the Olympic Movement framework or United States franchise models (e.g., the Indian Premier League in cricket) (Kohli, 2011; Houlihan, 2022).
Challenges to Liberal Globalisation: Grassroots and Elite Pressures
Grassroots Resistance ("Challenges from Below"):
Driven by the rise of political populism in Europe and the Americas. Populist movements are structured by four primary drivers: nativism, historical tendencies toward authoritarianism, Euroscepticism, and deep dissatisfaction with established political elites and institutions (Rooduijn, 2015; Houlihan, 2022).
Re-definition of Mobility: The cross-border movement of people, once celebrated as a cosmopolitan ideal, has been reframed through exclusionary politics. Migrants and foreign workers are increasingly portrayed as threats to local employment, culture, and social welfare systems (Featherstone, 2020; Houlihan, 2022).
Topophilia and Belongingness: The re-emergence of local, regional, and national identity (topophilia) serves as a primary counter-reaction to neoliberal globalisation (Fitzpatrick & Hoey, 2022). Physical borders have been replaced or reinforced by hardened cultural, ethnic, and linguistic boundaries (Reus-Smit, 2021; Simmons & Goemans, 2021; Houlihan, 2022).
Critiques of the State: Grassroots anti-globalisation manifests through three distinct critiques of the nation-state (Houlihan, 2022):
A right-wing libertarian critique asserting that the state threatens individual liberty (MacLean, 2017; Houlihan, 2022).
A multi-ideological critique targeting the ceding of democratic sovereignty to International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) and supranational bodies (manifested in movements like the Zapatista anti-NAFTA campaign, Occupy, anti-vaccination groups, NOlympics, and radical eco-activism) (Pickerill et al., 2016; Hinsliff, 2019; Robertson, 2019; Scarce, 2016; Smyth, 2019; Moore & Roberts, 2022; Houlihan, 2022).
A populist reaction to the perceived breakdown of the post-war welfare bargain, wherein political elites failed to protect native workforces from the wage stagnation and job displacement caused by economic off-shoring (Houlihan, 2022).
Elite and Corporate Resistance ("Challenges from Above"):
New Constitutionalism: Neoliberal governance has systematically depoliticised economic policy through supranational legal agreements (e.g., WTO, NAFTA, EU treaties) and Private Governance Organisations (PGOs) like the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and hybrid bodies like the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) (Baker, 2006; Schneiderman, 2008; Gill & Cutler, 2014; Gill, 1998; Houlihan, 2022). This locks in the legal rights of private capital while insulating economic decisions from domestic democratic accountability.
Reassertion of Westphalian Sovereignty: Right-wing populist governments increasingly reassert state sovereignty against international human rights bodies (Reus-Smit, 2021; Wickham, 2021; Houlihan, 2022). Individual human rights claims under UN conventions are contested by collectivist demands for ethno-national, religious, and civilisational recognition (Reus-Smit, 2021).
Civilisational States and the Rejection of Universal Liberal Values
Concept of Civilisational States: Distinct from territorially bound Westphalian nation-states, civilisational states define themselves through shared culture, historical continuity, and ethnic identity, rejecting the universal applicability of Western liberal rights (termed "placeless universalism") (Baggini, 2018; Coker, 2019; Featherstone, 2020; Houlihan, 2022).
China: Ideologists like Zhang Weiwei challenge Western concepts of democracy and human rights by counterposing values of social harmony, benevolence, collective responsibility, and poverty alleviation (Zhang, 2012; Ge, 2019; Perdue, 2021; Wong, 2022; Houlihan, 2022).
Multilateral Subversion: China has actively modified global human rights norms within the United Nations Human Rights Council (Posner, 2014; Worden, 2020; Houlihan, 2022):
In , China passed the resolution "Promoting the HR cause through win-win cooperation," replacing accountability mechanisms with non-binding "dialogue" and emphasizing absolute state sovereignty (Worden, 2020; Houlihan, 2022).
In , a subsequent resolution sought to replace external human rights reviews with internal state-managed reviews, prioritizing non-interference and state-to-state respect over individual rights protections (Worden, 2020; Houlihan, 2022).
Russia: Post-Soviet Russian ideology (promoted by thinkers like Alexander Dugin and political commentators like Leontiev) rejects Western cosmopolitanism as an existential threat to Russian civilization (Yanov, 2013; Dugin, 2014; Houlihan, 2022). Former President Dmitry Medvedev articulated a strategic doctrine establishing a sphere of "civilisational privilege" over foreign territories containing Russian ethnic minorities (Coker, 2019; Houlihan, 2022), providing the ideological pretext for military invasions of Georgia, Crimea, and Ukraine.
United States: Populist leadership under Donald Trump rejected globalist frameworks in favor of "patriotic nationalism," framing international relations as an arena of competition between sovereign nation-states seeking to preserve distinct cultural heritages (Reus-Smit, 2021; Houlihan, 2022).
Impact on International Sporting Agreements and Declarations
The foundational texts of global sport rely directly on liberal human rights standards, primarily the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (Duranti, 2017; Houlihan, 2022).
\begin{array}{|l|p{4.5cm}|p{6cm}|}\n\hline\n\mathbf{Sporting\ Agreement} & \mathbf{Underlying\ Ideological\ Framework} & \mathbf{Contemporary\ Vulnerabilities\ \&\ Compliance\ Issues} \\\n\hline\n\text{World Anti-Doping Code (WADA Code)} & \text{Individual moral responsibility; legal harmonization across states and sports bodies (Duranti, 2017; Houlihan, 2022).} & \text{Shallow global compliance (Hanstad et al., 2010; Hanstad \& Houlihan, 2015); leadership dominated by Europe and North America (holding } 10 \text{ of the } 14 \text{ top executive positions); compromised by state-orchestrated doping (Russia) and widespread administrative apathy (India, Jamaica, Kenya).} \\\n\hline\n\text{Olympic Charter} & \text{Autonomy of sports organisations; insulation from state political control; universal cosmopolitan values (Parry, 2012).} & \text{Passivity when confronted by state self-interest; failure to enforce human rights standards against host nations; persistent marginalisation of female athletes in several Muslim-majority states (Lenskyj, 2017; Houlihan, 2022).} \\\n\hline\n\text{Brighton Plus Helsinki 2014 Declaration} & \text{Social-democratic rights model modeled on UDHR, UN CEDAW, and UNESCO principles (Duranti, 2017).} & \text{Over } 500 \text{ signatories, but adoption is heavily skewed toward Europe, North America, and Commonwealth nations; minimal uptake across Asia and the Middle East (Houlihan, 2022).} \\\n\hline\n\text{Universal Declaration of Player Rights (UDPR)} & \text{Labor rights framework promoted by UNI Global Union; rooted in ILO standards and UN Child Rights.} & \text{Voluntary compliance framework lacking enforcement mechanisms; institutional support is restricted almost entirely to Western Europe and the Americas (Houlihan, 2022).} \\\n\hline\n\end{array}
Subversion Strategies by Global Sporting Powers:
China: Focuses on institutional entry and rule modification within International Federations (IFs) (Tan & Houlihan, 2012; Hu & Henry, 2016; Houlihan, 2022). The General Administration of Sport instituted mandatory English-language academic training for elite athletes to build a pipeline of Chinese officials qualified to sit on IOC and IF governing boards. Vice President of the Chinese Olympic Committee Shuan Yang explicitly stated that securing positions within IF decision-making bodies was necessary to alter competition rules and governing constitutions to favor Chinese athletes (Yang, 2005; Tan & Houlihan, 2012). Internally, China censors athletes who challenge state authority, as demonstrated by the internet suppression of tennis player Peng Shuai following her sexual assault allegations against a senior Communist Party official, and the online censorship of former international football player Hao Haidong (Butler, 2018; Houlihan, 2022).
Russia: Pursues a strategy of overt public endorsement of Olympism and anti-doping conventions while covertly operating state-sponsored doping systems (as revealed at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games) and using major events for political sportswashing (Houlihan, 2022).
National Identity Politics, Diaspora Nationalism, and Sport
Deterritorialisation of Sports Citizenship: To maximize medal tallies or international qualification, states increasingly bypass traditional naturalisation processes to import foreign athletes (Simmons & Goemans, 2021; Houlihan, 2022). Examples include "plastic Brits" in the United Kingdom (Baker, 2012), naturalised track athletes in Qatar, the Foreign Athletes Talent Scheme in Singapore, and China's naturalisation of foreign football players for its national team (which triggered significant fan backlash, forcing the Chinese football federation to limit naturalisation rates) (Economist, 2019; Ronay, 2019; Houlihan, 2022).
Alternative Governance for Unrecognised Identities: The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA) represents approximately non-FIFA member entities, including stateless cultural communities and unrecognized territories such as Tibet, Northern Cyprus, and Biafra (Rookwood, 2020; Houlihan, 2022).
Fan Activism and Radical Subcultures:
Ultras: Contemporary European football fan subcultures often unite under the banner "Against Modern Football," opposing hyper-commercialisation, security regulation, and corporate ownership (Jones, 2019; Doidge et al., 2020; Houlihan, 2022). In several regions (e.g., Italy), these subcultures intersect with far-right nationalist movements seeking local identity and belonging (Jones, 2019).
Anti-Neoliberal Resistance: Fan mobilisations successfully forced the collapse of the proposed European Super League in and generated widespread resistance against FIFA's proposals for biennial Men's World Cups (Fitzpatrick & Hoey, 2022; Houlihan, 2022).
Diaspora Politics and "Ordonationalism" in Hungary: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s right-wing populist administration deployed sport policy to construct an ethnic, cross-border nationalist state (Geva, 2021; Molnar & Whigham, 2021; Houlihan, 2022). Through a policy framework termed "ordonationalism," the Hungarian government bypassed international neoliberal institutions while directly funding football academies in Hungarian-minority enclaves across Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia to bind ethnic Magyars outside Hungary's territorial borders to the state (Geva, 2021; Molnar & Whigham, 2021; Houlihan, 2022).
Governance, Monopolies, and Resistance in International Sports Organisations
International Federations (IFs) and the IOC operate as global private monopolies, shielded from state regulatory oversight by establishing their legal seats in corporate-friendly, autonomous jurisdictions (predominantly Switzerland and Monaco) (Houlihan, 2022).
State Interventions Against Autonomous Sports Bodies:
In , the United States Department of Justice issued criminal indictments against FIFA officials, demonstrating the vulnerability of autonomous sports monopolies to extraterritorial law enforcement (Houlihan, 2022).
French authorities initiated judicial investigations into grand corruption within World Athletics (formerly the IAAF) (Houlihan, 2022).
In , the United States government threatened to withhold its annual statutory financial contribution to WADA, citing a lack of institutional independence, opaque governance, and inadequate representation (Houlihan, 2022).
Grassroots Mobilisation Against Mega-Events:
Transnational activist networks such as NOlympics oppose the hosting of Olympic Games based on economic displacement, militarised policing, and public expenditure (Robertson, 2019; Houlihan, 2022). Public resistance to mega-events has intensified: out of public referendums held regarding municipal bids to host the Winter Olympic Games, were defeated by local voters (Livingstone, 2018; Chappelet, 2021; Houlihan, 2022).
Geopolitics and State Sovereignty in Major Competitions: The 2026 Men's World Cup
Shift in Political Mobilisation Patterns: The Men's World Cup hosted across Canada, the United States, and Mexico demonstrated a marked transition from coordinated team protests (such as the collective human rights statements observed at Qatar ) toward individual political actions (Gomez, 2026):
Sporting director Rudi Völler instructed the German national team to abstain from political commentary, reflecting a broader retreat by European federations from collective human rights campaigns (Gomez, 2026).
Individual and Bilateral Political Incidents:
Falkland Islands Dispute: Argentine national team players displayed a stadium banner reading "las Malvinas son argentinas" ("The Falkland Islands are Argentine"), prompting formal diplomatic complaints from the United Kingdom to FIFA's independent disciplinary committee (Gomez, 2026). Andrew Giuliani, head of the FIFA World Cup Task Force and ally of Donald Trump, defended the banner as protected free expression, overriding FIFA rules that strictly prohibit political demonstrations in venues (Gomez, 2026).
Team Melli Protests: The Iranian national football team publicly denounced the restrictive operational and political conditions under which they were forced to compete (Gomez, 2026).
Mexican Missing Persons Campaigns: Civic activists in Mexico used match broadcasts to stage demonstrations drawing international media attention to forced disappearances (Gomez, 2026).
Gaza Conflict Statements: Egyptian head coach Hossam Hassan wore a Palestinian flag draped over his shoulders following round-of-16 qualification and used official press conferences to demand global political action regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza (Gomez, 2026).
Anti-Commercialism Activism: Spanish forward Borja Iglesias utilized his personal digital platforms to launch public critiques against exorbitant ticket pricing models and the commercialisation of the tournament (Gomez, 2026).
Legal Challenges to FIFA Monopolies:
Football Supporters Europe (FSE): Filed a formal complaint with the European Commission against FIFA, alleging abuse of monopoly position, predatory ticket pricing schemes, and non-transparent sales allocations (Gomez, 2026).
US State Judicial Action: The Attorneys General of New York and New Jersey launched joint civil investigations into FIFA's regional ticket pricing and commercial distribution practices (Gomez, 2026).
FairSquare Ethics Complaints: Human rights NGO FairSquare launched the "Reboot FIFA" campaign and submitted formal ethics complaints regarding the process behind awarding the FIFA Peace Prize to Gianni Infantino in December (Gomez, 2026). The complaint was supported by Lise Klaveness of the Norwegian Football Federation and Members of the European Parliament (Gomez, 2026).
Host Sovereignty vs. FIFA Authority: Despite FIFA's historical claim that football transcends politics, host nation state sovereignty superseded sports governance authority (Gomez, 2026). The United States federal government enforced sovereign visa denials against official members of the Iranian delegation and blocked international referee Omar Artan (Somalia) from entering US territory (Gomez, 2026).
Proliferation of Online Abuse: FIFA data recorded that the proportion of racist, homophobic, and abusive social media posts directed at players during the tournament increased by percentage points compared to the World Cup in Qatar, despite public counter-campaigns by high-profile athletes such as Kylian Mbappé (Gomez, 2026).
US Sports Diplomacy and Donald Trump:
Donald Trump utilized the tournament as a platform for political self-promotion and sports diplomacy, threatening to strip match hosting rights from municipal venues governed by Democratic mayors via presidential decree or direct requests to FIFA President Gianni Infantino (Gomez, 2026).
Direct Competition Intervention: Trump persuaded Infantino to personally intervene and overturn the disciplinary red-card suspension of United States striker Balogun (Gomez, 2026).
Long-Term US Hosting Strategy: The tournament served as the opening event in a broader decade-long US sports diplomacy strategy that includes the LA Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Men's and Women's Rugby World Cups, and the Women's World Cup (Gomez, 2026). Restrictive US immigration and visa enforcement continue to directly conflict with the universal participant access mandates of international sporting bodies (Gomez, 2026).
Gender, Expansion, and Structural Inequality: The 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil
Host Selection and Strategic Significance: In a to vote by the FIFA Congress, Brazil defeated a joint European bid submitted by Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands to host the Women's World Cup (Gomez, 2026).
Marks the first time the Women's World Cup will be hosted on the South American continent, extending tournament hosting beyond its historical concentration in Western Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania (Gomez, 2026).
Demonstrates infrastructure continuity by reusing stadium venues constructed or renovated for the Men's World Cup (Gomez, 2026).
Format Expansion and Developmental Realities:
The tournament will be the final edition featuring national teams before expanding to a team format in (Gomez, 2026).
Developmental Disconnect: While qualification expansion increases media visibility and competitive experience for emerging confederations (illustrated by breakthrough performances from nations such as Cape Verde and the Democratic Republic of the Congo), participation in mega-events does not guarantee structural development (Gomez, 2026). Major domestic structural inequalities persist in Latin America and developing regions, including low levels of league professionalisation, inadequate athlete compensation, and persistent under-investment by national federations (Gomez, 2026).
Institutional Timeline: FIFA published its first global strategy for women's football in , establishing dedicated developmental policies after the organisation's founding in (Gomez, 2026).
Conclusions and Implications for the Future of Global Sport
The Divergence of Economic and Normative Globalisation: A structural decoupling has occurred within global sport: while the globalisation of liberal values (human rights, athlete protection, anti-corruption, individual dignity) is in retreat, commercial and economic globalisation is accelerating rapidly (Houlihan, 2022).
Relativism vs. Universalism in Sports Governance: Social scientists categorize systems of social relations into four models: equality matching and market pricing (characteristic of Western liberal democracies), versus authority ranking (characteristic of authoritarian state structures in the Middle East and Russia) and communal sharing (characteristic of deferential/hierarchical structures in East Asia) (Fiske, 1992; Houlihan, 2022).
International sports governance is increasingly forced to accommodate authoritarian authority ranking models, eroding universal Kantian guarantees (Mignolo, 2020; Reynolds, 2021; Houlihan, 2022).
Corporate Capitulation to Authoritarian Power: Major sports leagues and transnational corporations consistently prioritize market access over liberal rights protection (Cha & Lim, 2019; Houlihan, 2022). When Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey published a statement supporting democratic protests in Hong Kong ("Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong"), the Chinese state suspended broadcasts and retaliated commercially (Cha & Lim, 2019). The National Basketball Association (NBA) and individual star players issued immediate public disavowals to protect their commercial position within the Chinese market (Cha & Lim, 2019; Houlihan, 2022).
Athlete Rights Advocacy Alliances: Protection of athlete rights against corporate greed and state overreach relies increasingly on external partnerships between sport-specific organisations (e.g., Athlete Ally, Play the Game, Centre for Human Rights and Sport, Sport and Rights Alliance) and general transnational human rights organisations (e.g., Amnesty International, Transparency International, Commonwealth Forum of Human Rights Organisations) (Houlihan, 2022). Independent institutional actions—such as the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) suspending tournament operations in China following the disappearance of Peng Shuai—remain rare exceptions to the broader commercial alignment of sports federations with non-liberal host regimes (Houlihan, 2022).