Going for Gold? An Olympic Attempt at Human Rights
(2026) JAMM07 20261Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- The International Olympic Committee has taken a range of measures to improve the safeguarding of Olympic values and the role of sport in society. This included several human rights commitments, one of which was to include a human rights clause in the Olympic Host Contract which governs the organisation of the Olympic Games. Because of the negative impact the Olympic Games have had on human rights previously, this is an important development. However, the actual impact this human rights clause can have for the individuals and groups whose human rights were adversely affected by the Olympic Games, is unclear.
In cases where businesses have negatively impacted human rights, international human rights law has previously struggled to provide... (More) - The International Olympic Committee has taken a range of measures to improve the safeguarding of Olympic values and the role of sport in society. This included several human rights commitments, one of which was to include a human rights clause in the Olympic Host Contract which governs the organisation of the Olympic Games. Because of the negative impact the Olympic Games have had on human rights previously, this is an important development. However, the actual impact this human rights clause can have for the individuals and groups whose human rights were adversely affected by the Olympic Games, is unclear.
In cases where businesses have negatively impacted human rights, international human rights law has previously struggled to provide meaningful accountability. Including a human rights commitment into a contract could help to bridge this accountability gap, by providing another source of law – contract law- to adjudicate human rights. This is most impactful if the clause is enforceable by the rightsholders themselves. Therefore, to assess the impact a human rights clause can have, it is essential to understand the rightsholders’ possibilities to enforce the clause. Additionally, because the clause is ambiguously worded, it is essential to understand what the material scope entails as it provides insight of what level of human rights protection this clause can provide.
This thesis interprets the Olympic Host Contract’s human rights clause, using the governing law of the contract, which is Swiss Law and delves into soft law and academic literature to further this analysis. The research focusses on the rightsholder’s enforcements possibilities and on what the material scope of the clause implies. Finally, it provides insight into the grievance mechanisms available for rightsholders and how they can contribute to holding the parties breaching the clause accountable.
The research shows that although the human rights clause in the Olympic Host Contract has potential to improve accountability for human rights abuses in the context of the Olympic Games, it contains significant weaknesses regarding personal and material scope. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9241043
- author
- Strebel, Amélie Luise LU
- supervisor
-
- Radu Mares LU
- organization
- course
- JAMM07 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- language
- English
- id
- 9241043
- date added to LUP
- 2026-08-14 08:47:26
- date last changed
- 2026-08-14 08:47:26
@misc{9241043,
abstract = {{The International Olympic Committee has taken a range of measures to improve the safeguarding of Olympic values and the role of sport in society. This included several human rights commitments, one of which was to include a human rights clause in the Olympic Host Contract which governs the organisation of the Olympic Games. Because of the negative impact the Olympic Games have had on human rights previously, this is an important development. However, the actual impact this human rights clause can have for the individuals and groups whose human rights were adversely affected by the Olympic Games, is unclear.
In cases where businesses have negatively impacted human rights, international human rights law has previously struggled to provide meaningful accountability. Including a human rights commitment into a contract could help to bridge this accountability gap, by providing another source of law – contract law- to adjudicate human rights. This is most impactful if the clause is enforceable by the rightsholders themselves. Therefore, to assess the impact a human rights clause can have, it is essential to understand the rightsholders’ possibilities to enforce the clause. Additionally, because the clause is ambiguously worded, it is essential to understand what the material scope entails as it provides insight of what level of human rights protection this clause can provide.
This thesis interprets the Olympic Host Contract’s human rights clause, using the governing law of the contract, which is Swiss Law and delves into soft law and academic literature to further this analysis. The research focusses on the rightsholder’s enforcements possibilities and on what the material scope of the clause implies. Finally, it provides insight into the grievance mechanisms available for rightsholders and how they can contribute to holding the parties breaching the clause accountable.
The research shows that although the human rights clause in the Olympic Host Contract has potential to improve accountability for human rights abuses in the context of the Olympic Games, it contains significant weaknesses regarding personal and material scope.}},
author = {{Strebel, Amélie Luise}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Going for Gold? An Olympic Attempt at Human Rights}},
year = {{2026}},
}