The repression behind international sporting events

In an article published by Inkstick Media, co-authors Christian Gläßel, postdoctoral researcher at the Hertie School's Centre for International Security, Pearce Edwards, postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Policy and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon University, and Adam Scharpf, postdoctoral researcher at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies, argue that autocratic hosts of international sporting events systematically crack down on dissidents and political opposition in the months before the games in order to prevent public resistance during the tournaments and portray themselves as liberal hosts.

In light of their research on the 1978 FIFA World Cup in autocratic Argentina, the authors explain how the COVID-19 pandemic played into the hands of the Chinese regime during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, allowing it to isolate foreign journalists from the local population and influence reporting. Gläßel, Edwards and Scharpf offer an explanation for these behaviours: While dictators view hosting mega-events as a unique opportunity to generate positive publicity, they also fear that the hordes of foreign journalists flocking into the country will expose the regime’s wrongdoing and provide a window of opportunity for opposition activists to voice their dissent. In order to solve this "scrutiny-publicity dilemma", autocratic regimes will massively increase repression in the run-up to the event and clear the streets of all potential troublemakers. 

How can the world respond to future escalations of human rights violations? According to the authors, boycotting sports mega-events with dictatorships can, in the long run, reduce repression in host countries. Without VIP guests and international media attention, autocratic leaders will gain less positive press from hosting and, since mega-events already incur financial losses, little incentive would remain for dictators to submit bids. Additionally, pressuring international sports associations may push these organisations to take a firmer stance against the violations of human rights by autocratic host-countries. 

Read the full article (in English) here.