2022: End of Year Message from FairSport and Global Athlete
Globally, 2022 has been a very busy year for athletes and those advocating for athlete rights. Collectively, the effort to bring awareness, justice and safety to athletes has never been more powerful, nor voices louder. On behalf of our small, dedicated team at FairSport and Global Athlete, we thank you for your continued partnership and support. Through an athlete first approach, FairSport is committed to funding Global Athlete to promote fair, safe and ethical sport. To donate, please click the button below.
“HUMAN RIGHTS ARE ATHLETE RIGHTS”
This has been the rebel yell of 2022 from athletes all over the world. We at Global Athlete have heard, from every corner of the globe, athletes’ lived experiences that highlight the lack of human rights in many facets of sport.
Freedom of Expression
As a result of independent athlete advocacy, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) were forced to relax their rules regarding athlete speech at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Athletes now have the right to freedom of expression in the Olympic Village and before and after competitions. Ukrainian skeleton athlete, Vladyslav Heraskevych, exercised this right at the finish of his Olympic event with a sign that read “No war in Ukraine”. In the past, such a protest would have been met with a sanction by the IOC. Heraskevych was not sanctioned, and he continues to use his sport platform to stand up for peace and human rights.
Russia and Belarus Banned from 2022 Paralympics
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Global Athlete partnered with Ukrainian athletes and mobilized thousands of individual Olympic and Paralympic athletes to demand the IPC ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Games. This mobilization of athletes resulted successfully in the ban of Russia and Belarus from the Games.
Athlete Abuse
Over the past year we have received horrifying accounts of athlete abuse across the world that have been ignored or mishandled by sport authorities. No country is immune to the abuse that festers and grows out of the global power imbalance persisting between athletes and coaches/administrators. It speaks volumes that athletes all over the world seek the help of Global Athlete instead of their own sporting federations or athlete commissions that struggle to be independent under the pull of the system.
Canadian Abuse in Sport
There has been a necessary focus in Canada this year. We have worked with thousands of athletes across 15 sports to call for Canadian sport and the Canadian Government to address the crisis of abuse across the country. Our focus has been guided by the immense opportunity Canada has to lead the way for global change in how abuse in sport is acted upon.
Our work alongside determined athletes has led to their voices being heard. The President of Canadian Bobsleigh and Skeleton was forced to step aside, and the High-Performance Director/Coach of Boxing Canada was also forced to resign.
Notably, after months of work with the dedicated team at Gymnasts for Change Canada, the Canadian House of Common’s Standing Committee on the Status of Women took action by commencing a study into abuse in sport in Canada. The objective of thousands of athletes is for the Canadian Government to initiate a national judicial inquiry. Initiating such an inquiry will send a message to every child, youth, and elite athlete that they are worthy of protection, that prevention is imperative, and that they will no longer be forced into silence. The outcome will set a benchmark for the rest of the world, just as the Dubin Inquiry did with doping. Athletes need everyone’s support in calling for an inquiry. Abuse cannot win.
Iranian Abuse in Sport
We worked with Iranian athletes to call on both FIFA and the IOC to ban Iran from international competition. The Iranian regime continues to brutalize athletes for peacefully speaking up against the egregious actions of the Iranian government. In September 2020 the Iranian regime brutally executed wrestlers Navid Afkari and this week they executed Majidreza Rahnaard for peaceful protests. The IOC and FIFA continue to neglect its duty to care for athletes by failing to take action against Iran, despite both organisations’ recently adopted Strategic Framework on Human Rights.
Athlete Partnerships
Privately and publicly, over the past year we have worked with athletes and athlete groups from Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Iran, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, South Africa, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States representing more than 25 sports. With every athlete we meet, we are reminded how necessary our work is in a global system that continues to neglect and suppress athlete voices and rights.
Anti-Doping
FairSport continues to dedicate resources to Dr. Rodchenkov’s testimony at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), FIFA, and others. The evidence that Dr. Rodchenkov provides helps bring those who undermined the anti-doping system to justice. We will continue to support this work to ensure clean athletes’ rights are respected and justice is served.
Athletes continue to be dissatisfied with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) governance reforms and their leniency towards the Russian doping scandal. WADA continues to favour Russian interests over athletes’ interests.
2023 - A New Year for Athlete Rights
As we end a year of rising athlete power, we look forward to working with, empowering, and advocating for more athletes in 2023. Together we must ensure that the Canadian Government initiates a judicial inquiry into the toxic culture of abuse. We will continue to advocate for the entire Olympic and Paralympic Movement to start recognizing athletes as independent equal partners. We will continue to challenge sport administrators’ motivation and ability to respect athlete rights, protect athletes from abuse, and negotiate revenue sharing with athletes. We will continue to echo the rebel yell for athletes’ rights until sport leadership steps up and recognises that athletes are humans first, athletes second.
Your Contribution Matters
We hope you will join us on this journey with a donation during the holiday giving season. We rely on private contributions to fund our operations. Our independence from all sport authorities is critical to our mission, and there is no feasible alternative funding model for our work. We thank you for your support and for seeing the necessity in the tasks ahead.
Sincerely,
Jim Swartz
Founder, FairSport
Rob Koehler
Director General, Global Athlete
FairSport is an independent foundation dedicated to eradicating cheating in sport. We support confidential sources who speak up to unmask doping, and we educate the global public on the value of honesty and integrity in sport.
Global Athlete is an international athlete-led movement that will inspire and lead positive change in world sport and collectively address the balance of power between athletes and administrators. We aim to help athletes gain a more representative voice in world sport, recognising that the neglection and suppression of the athlete voice has gone on for too long.