Blurred lines of responsibility for human rights abuses at mega-sporting events

Mega-Sporting Events (MSEs) like the FIFA World Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games (OPGs), or the Commonwealth Games, have increasingly been associated with human rights abuses in the past decades, the latest since Beijing hosted the OPGs in 2008. Cases of forced evictions, infringements of freedom of speech or privacy rights, exploitation of migrant workers, or human trafficking and child labour have been documented for many past events. Addressing these cases in order to hold the responsible actors to account and provide those affected with access to remedies is a complicated undertaking, due to the multiplicity and diversity of actors involved in staging these events, and in the actions that somewhere down the line result in human rights harms. From an affected person's point of view, the challenges begin with identifying the responsible parties and continue with finding the right forum to claim their rights and the financial means to start a procedure. This chapter highlights the blurred lines of responsibilities that complicate the establishment of accountability for human rights abuses that occur in the context of MSEs and explores to what extent a shared responsibility approach and collaborative remedies can provide solutions.