The APPG brings together Parliamentarians from all political parties with an interest in the issue of modern slavery and sport. The group’s mission is to find solutions to pressing human rights problems affecting large scale sporting events around the world, with a focus on three specific areas; the human rights impacts of the cycle of mega-sporting events, the impacts of the UK Modern Slavery Act on professional sport companies and discrimination in sport in all its forms.
The APPG is chaired by Alex Norris MP and Baroness Young of Hornsey, with the Secretariat provided by the UN Global Compact Network UK.
The APPG holds regular meetings and over the next 24 months, the APPG plans to take evidence (written and oral) from high level, high profile sports administrators, athletes, policy makers, sports governing bodies, journalists, civil society/NGOs, and anyone else that can make a constructive contribution to the reports that will be produced. For more information, please visit the APPG website here or contact our Business and Human Rights Project Manager, Marcella Mizzi.
PAST EVENTS
EXTREME HEAT, MIGRANT WORKERS, AND THE QATAR WORLD CUP
APPG on Sport, Modern Slavery, and Human Rights: Extreme Heat, Migrant Workers, and the Qatar World Cup
1 November 2022
APPG on Sport, Modern Slavery, and Human Rights: Extreme Heat, Migrant Workers, and the Qatar World Cup 1 November 2022
In November, the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicked off in Qatar. The Gulf peninsula is one of the fastest warming areas due to climate change, with the region’s migrant workers most vulnerable to the health impacts of prolonged exposure to extreme heat.
The BBC series Life at 50°C recently examined a large number of sudden deaths among migrant workers in Qatar. Research suggests that as many as 10,000 low-paid migrant workers die every year in the Gulf. At least half of those deaths are unexplained.
On the 1st of November, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sport, Modern Slavery, and Human Rights hosted a meeting on ‘Extreme Heat, Migrant Workers, and the Qatar World Cup’. The UN Global Compact Network UK partnered with NGO Fairsquare to bring together film-makers, activists, and researchers to examine and discuss the impact of heat and climate change on the world’s most popular and lucrative sporting event. We discussed what can be done in the face of these challenges and how to provide remedy to those affected.
View the recording of the meeting here.
Nicholas McGeehan (Moderator)
Founding Co-director
FairSquare Projects
Alex Norris, MP
Chair
APPG SMSHR
Cecilia Golding
Producer
Life at 50°C, The Gulf: Killer Heat
Barrak Alahmad
Research Fellow in the Exposure, Epidemiology, and Risk (EER) Program
Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health
Natasha Iskander
Author
Does Skill Make Us Human?: Migrant Workers in 21st Century Qatar and Beyond (Princeton University Press, 2021)
Tim Sparv
Former professional football player
Stay Informed
- BBC, Documentary Life at 50C
- The Guardian, Revealed: hundreds of migrant workers dying of heat stress in Qatar each year
- Amnesty International, Qatar: failure to investigate migrant worker deaths leaves families in despair
- Vital Signs report 'The Deaths of Migrants in the Gulf"
APPG on Sport, Modern Slavery, and Human Rights: Protecting Athletes from Abuse and the Right to Remedy
21 June 2022
Mounting reports, allegations, criminal convictions, and increasing media coverage of abuse, bullying, harassment, and misconduct in sport have shed a light on this often-hidden issue. Athletes of all ages and levels are vulnerable to abuse, making the need to safeguard them urgent. In the UK, Baroness Grey-Thompson’s independent review on Duty of Care in Sport, calling for stronger measures to ensure athletes’ protection, is building up momentum for policy change in this space.
On 21 June, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sport, Modern Slavery, and Human Rights hosted a meeting to raise awareness on the issue of athlete abuse, discuss the current regulatory framework, and gain insights on the existing best practices with a view to ensuring that sport is free from all forms of abuse. The ‘Protecting Athletes from Abuse and the Right to Remedy’ session explored the roles and responsibilities of key actors (including the UK government, regulatory sports bodies, sports clubs, coaches, and schools) in collaboratively addressing this pressing human rights problem through effective preventive, remediation, and monitoring strategies.
View the recording of the meeting here.
Heather Douglas
Head of Policy & Impact
UK Coaching
Michelle North
Service Head, Child Protection in Sport Unit
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)
Elaine Francis
Head of Safeguarding and Athlete Support Manager
British Athletes Commission
Prof Mike Hartill PhD, MA, B.Soc.Sci. (Hons) Professor of the Sociology of Sport Edge Hill University (Department of Social Sciences) & Director Centre for Child Protection and Safeguarding in Sport (CPSS)
Kimberley Walsh
Safeguarding Adults in Sport Manager
Ann Craft Trust
Catherine Wright
Head of Governance
Everton Football Club
Paul Cuthbert
Head of Safeguarding
Everton Football Club
Chris Adamson
Head of Academy Education & Player Care
Everton Football Club
Stay Informed
- Duty of care in Sport: Independent Report, Baroness Grey-Thompson
- Official website of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sport, Modern Slavery, and Human Rights
- Athlete Abuse webinar: Practical solutions for sports governance, Centre for Sport and Human Rights
- Safeguarding the Wellbeing of Affected Persons Throughout the Remedy Process, Centre for Sport and Human Rights
Contact
For more information, please contact Marcella Mizzi, Project Manager (Business & Human Rights).
