UN human rights official says racism in sports is teaching the wrong lessons

The sports experience, which ought to teach respect and egalitarianism among people, has been badly marked by racism, while the caste system, deeply rooted in certain value systems, continues to victimize communities on many continents, a senior official from the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (UNHCHR) said today.

Doudou Diene, the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, told a General Assembly committee that he wished to draw its attention to two particularly striking examples of racism and discrimination.

The first was that sports today, instead of promoting the values of respect, equality and humanity, often showcased the racist uses of physical violence and verbal abuse, he said.

Because of the educational, symbolic and popular dimensions of sports, there was a high risk that this negative behaviour could intensify, rather than lessen, a racist and discriminatory culture and mentality, Mr. Diene said. The United Nations and governments needed to take urgent and determined steps, along with international sports authorities, to head off such a development.

The second major problem, the caste system in certain societies, had profound historical roots embedded in value systems and woven into the social fabric. These properties made caste prejudice, especially in Asia and Africa, resilient and pervasive, he said, adding that he intended to give that kind of discrimination a central place in a future report.