The IOC as the owner of the Olympic Games
The Olympic Games are the world’s most powerful symbol of unity in all our diversity, with the participation of athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team. They send a powerful message of diversity, inclusion and non-discrimination, as athletes from all races, religions, ethnicities and cultures compete with each other and live together in harmony in the Olympic Village.
The objective is to ensure that human rights principles are upheld in the host selection process, and in the organisation and delivery of the Olympic Games.
The IOC works in close collaboration with the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) and Youth Olympic Games organisers, and supports them in the implementation of these principles.
In 2017, as part of the implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC adopted new procedures to ensure that Olympic Games-related activities minimise negative impacts on people while maximising positive ones, in alignment with our commitment to the UNGPs.
Election of Future Hosts
The new approach to electing Olympic and Paralympic hosts includes a Future Host Questionnaire, which has a section on human rights. Preferred Hosts are required to describe how they will seek to identify and address adverse human rights impacts, in line with the UNGPs, throughout the lifecycle of the Olympic Games.
In addition, an independent human rights assessment of the Preferred Host country is part of the IOC procedure to help inform the selection of the Future Host.
Finally, the IOC analyses the human development context of the city and country, leveraging third-party independent expertise and specific human development indicators to measure this, in addition to the other aspects that are assessed, including geopolitical, economic, sport and sustainability perspectives.
Organisation and delivery of the Olympic Games
Protection of and respect for human rights form an important dimension of the organisation and delivery of the Olympic Games, in addition to or complementing the existing requirements on sustainability, inclusion, good governance, accountability and transparency.
The Olympic Host Contract comes with a series of more detailed requirements, which specify the activities each Organising Committee has to carry out. These activities should be based on human rights due diligence and identification of all critical risks and the availability of remedies for affected individuals; ongoing engagement with potentially affected groups such as workers, the media, local communities and athletes; and effective and transparent public communication, including to any affected populations, about human rights challenges and actions.
This may cover issues such as migrant workers, labour conditions, displacement of the local population, discrimination, child safeguarding, peaceful assembly and media freedom. The aim is also to ensure that the protection of and respect for human rights also align with a number of other key principles of organising the Games, such as sustainability, good governance, inclusive practices, accountability and transparency.
For the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), the Host Contract includes similar provisions. Furthermore, the YOG Edition Plan, which details the operational requirements, includes a dedicated section on respect for human rights obligations. Expected deliverables include ongoing consultations with (potentially) affected stakeholders, and a resulting Human Rights Action Plan that details the prevention and mitigation measures to address adverse human rights impact risks. In the event of such impacts, the YOG Organising Committee is expected to ensure access to effective remedy mechanisms for each category of the most vulnerable stakeholders.
Monitoring and Due Diligence
The IOC works closely with the Organising Committees to support them in delivering on human rights-related requirements. The IOC monitors the implementation of the Olympic Charter, the Olympic Host Contract and candidature commitments. This is done through a regular reporting process that is set up at different levels: from the technical team and the various IOC departments all the way up to the Coordination Commission and ultimately the IOC Executive Board.
The IOC monitoring process involves requesting the disclosure of policies, processes and procedures, together with their related impacts on affected stakeholders. Discussions are held regularly with partners with a view to strengthening the measures that have been planned, and to request clarifications or further implementation when they do not meet the contractual requirements. When concerns directly related to the Olympic Games are raised during the preparation phase, the IOC hears them and addresses them with the OCOGs via the IOC Coordination Commission and technical teams from the various IOC departments.
Freedom of expression during the Olympic Games
The IOC is fully supportive of freedom of expression, as enshrined in Rule 40.2 of the Olympic Charter: “All competitors, team officials or other team personnel in the Olympic Games shall enjoy freedom of expression in keeping with the Olympic values and the Fundamental Principles of Olympism, and in accordance with the Guidelines determined by the IOC Executive Board.”
During the Olympic Games, participants have the opportunity to express their views in a number of situations, including in the mixed zones, the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) and the Main Media Centre (MMC), when speaking to the media, during press conferences, during interviews, at team meetings, on media or digital media, and through social media channels. Athletes can also express their views on the field of play prior to the start of the competition, as detailed in the Athlete Expression Guidelines for Paris 2024.
When expressing their views, participants are expected to respect the Olympic values, their fellow athletes and other participants. They should recognise that any behaviour and/or expression that constitutes or signals discrimination, hatred, hostility or the potential for violence on any basis whatsoever is contrary to the Fundamental Principles of Olympism.
Grievance mechanism
The IOC makes available a grievance mechanism for anyone affected during the Olympic Games. This works hand-in-hand with the mechanism that the OCOGs deploy in their own context.
The IOC Integrity and Compliance Hotline allows participants to report cases of:
- Competition manipulation;
- Abuse and harassment;
- Infringements of the IOC Code of Ethics and other integrity issues; and
- Press freedom violations