Call for Papers: Special Issue

The Centre for Sport and Human Rights is co-editing a special issue of the International Sports Law Journal on the topic of remedy and redress for sport-related human rights abuses.

Human rights abuses linked to sport occur at local, regional, and global levels, both on and off the field, before, during, and after competitions and matches, as well as close to and far away from event venues. They involve, among others, cases of discrimination and racism, exploitation, displacement, and abuse, which can affect players and athletes including child athletes, as well as communities, families and individuals attending or living in and around countries that host sport events. Every affected party has the right to effective remedy and redress, as enshrined in a number of regional and international human rights treaties. However, those affected often lack effective remedies for abuses altogether or face significant obstacles in accessing available mechanisms. As a result, state and non-state actors responsible for abuses connected to sport are too often not held accountable for actions or inactions resulting from or connected to their activities.

This special issue aims to present a broad range of perspectives on and approaches to the challenges related to remedy and redress for sport-related human rights abuses. We are interested in submissions on diverse topics and approaches. Potential topics include:

• the role of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in addressing sport-related human rights abuses;
• challenges to ensuring effective remedy for abuse of the rights of children in the sport context;
• the status of operational-level grievance mechanisms within sport governing bodies;
• lessons learned in developing grievance mechanisms within local organizing committees for major sporting events;
• the role of states in ensuring access to remedy for sport-related human rights abuses;
• the record of arbitration as the most common form of dispute settlement in the world of sport;
• the status of efforts to strengthen remedies for grassroots sport-related human rights abuses;
• coordination challenges and effectiveness of state based judicial and non-judicial mechanisms addressing sport related abuses.

Submissions on other topics are welcome. To discuss an idea for a topic, feel free to email: [email protected].

To respond to this call for papers, please send a CV (2 pages max.) and an article abstract of 150 to 250 words (Word or pdf format) including 4 to 6 keywords to: [email protected], with “ISLJ special issue” as subject line.

The deadline for abstract submissions has been extended to 16 November 2020.

The Centre for Sport and Human Rights is planning to organise a workshop for contributors in Q2 or Q3 2021, to provide opportunities to discuss draft article and include feedback and comments in final submissions. Deadline for submission of final papers is 31 August 2021.