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Across the world, millions of fans troop to the stadiums or stay glued to their television screen every week to watch and support their favorite sports teams. Depending on the nature of the sport and its magnitude, organizers spend from hundreds of thousands to billions of dollars to deliver spectacular and memorable sporting events to the fan. Sponsors eagerly wait to see their logos on billboards at sports venues. Whether it is a game at the neighborhood park, city stadium, World Cup venues, or Olympic games arena, sporting events have become a source of entertainment and excitement, which fans gather to enjoy, sometimes with an indescribable passion.
Sport is life. Sport unites countries and peoples of different races, backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, and social classes. Sport has transformed lives and opened a world of unlimited opportunities to young men and women that would otherwise have ended in the worst places in our society. In terms of financial rewards, athletes are some of the highest earners globally. These earning capabilities have transformed the lives of thousands of athletes as well as helped to lift hundreds of thousands of people, who will never appear on our screens, out of poverty, thereby contributing to GDPs in many countries across the world. On the business side, sport is ranked the ninth largest industry on earth with a global annual revenue of $2.65 trillion in 2023,[1] recording an increase of $338 billion from its 2019 figure of $2.3 trillion.[2]
Beneath the glamour and excitement of this highly influential industry, however, are issues at the heart of sustainability, which everyday fans would hardly care about when they sit in sporting arenas to cheer their favorite teams. Perhaps, in fairness to them, many of them have never been made aware of these issues. Ranging from environmental to social and economic concerns, these sustainability issues pose major risks to many sporting events around the world. Depending on geographic, economic, and other factors, almost every major sporting event organized today comes with the potential to significantly increase carbon emissions, contribute to waste and plastic pollution, exacerbate resource depletion, land use change, unsustainable water usage, and loss of biodiversity. Sport may also increase social inequality and displacement of vulnerable members of society as a result of land acquisition for the development of stadiums and Olympic villages.
In the years leading to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, news broke of major labor and human rights issues concerning the migrant workers brought into the hosting country to build the infrastructure for the tournament, including stadiums, hotels, and other facilities needed to make arguably the biggest sporting event in the world a spectacle. These issues, which included the exploitative Kafala System,[3] harsh working conditions, low wages, wage theft, limited access to justice, and inadequate investigation of workers' deaths, raised major sustainability concerns on the tournament, leading to international scrutiny of Qatar and tournament organizers, FIFA. While Qatar claimed to have implemented some reforms in its labor laws to address these issues, FIFA[4] on its part recognized these issues and “actively explore ways to use its leverage to engage with the host government about the impact of the kafala system on migrant workers involved in World Cup-related construction.”[5] FIFA further adopted the “integration of workers’ welfare-related requirements into tenders of service providers and the integration of human rights into the sustainable procurement policy and procedures for all tournament organizers”. [6] Although FIFA launched a $50 million Legacy Fund through the World Health Organization (WHO), World Trade Organization (WTO), and UNCHR, the UN Refugee Agency, there are reports that many of the migrant workers who were victims of these abuses are yet to be compensated for their injuries.[7]
To speak about such abuses and the lack of compensation for those injured in a sport that brings thrilling excitement and huge financial rewards to millions around the world may sound almost inconceivable, but this is the reality for modern economic activities in many parts of the world. The template is now clear and familiar; while a group of people and corporate entities maximize economic and other gains from their business and social endeavors, some vulnerable and voiceless groups are often left to suffer the environmental, social, and economic impacts of such activities. What if more had been done to prevent the abuses experienced by the migrant workers in Qatar? What lessons did we learn from that experience? Most importantly, what policies have been put in place that will compel organizers and hosts of future sporting events to address sustainability risks inherent in their operations?
In 2020, the United Nations Climate Change (UNCC), in furtherance of its obligation under the Paris Agreement, extended invitations to sports organizations and their stakeholders to join its climate action for sports movement through the Sports for Climate Action Framework. Under this framework, participants are expected to adhere to a set of five principles, namely: (i) Undertake systematic efforts to promote greater environmental responsibility; (ii) Reduce overall climate impact; (iii) Educate for climate action; (iv) Promote sustainable and responsible consumption; and (v) Advocate for climate action through communication.[8]
This initiative by the United Nations Climate Change, though commendable, does not address all of the sustainability concerns associated with sporting activities around the world. Admittedly, climate change and its impacts are a major concern for our world. However, in addressing sustainability issues in sports, we must adopt an all-encompassing and proactive approach, taking into account all other environmental issues, as well as economic, labor, human rights, and supply change risks. This approach will require more clarity on who constitutes “stakeholders” in the sports industry and must not be left to the determination of sports organizations. Also, while the framework sets a foundation for future efforts, more needs to be done to ensure it is widely adopted by many more major sports organizations across the world.
[1] Global Institute of Sports; The True Size of the Global Sports Industry, December 9, 2024:
[2] Ibid. These numbers, according to former University of Oregon professors Dennis Howard and Roger Best, are based on three sports industry domains, namely, Fan Engagement, Sports products, and Sports Participation.
[3] A sponsorship system that gives private citizens and companies in Jordan, Lebanon, and most Arab Gulf countries almost total control over migrant workers’ employment and immigration status; Council on Foreign Relation; What is the Kafala System?
[4] Fédération Internationale de Football Association, which translates to International Federation of Association Football in English.
[5] Update from FIFA on the Recommendations of the FIFA Human Rights Advisory Board Covering the Period of September 2018 to November 2019, p.13 January 2020
[6] Ibid. p. 14.
[7] Amnesty International; Qatar: FIFA’s Qatar World Cup Legacy Fund Ignores Exploited Workers;
[8] United Nations Climate Change: Sports for Climate Action Framework;