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Sports Working Group

In December 2022, the global convening power of the United Nations partnered with the Eradicate Hate Global Summit Sports Working Group to establish the UN & Eradicate Hate Global Summit Sports Working Group. The Sports Working Group continues to work with sports teams around the world to deploy their powerful voices of sport to foster acceptance, and mutual respect and counter hate speech around the world.​

The Game Plan

The UN & Eradicate Hate Global Summit Sports Working Group has developed the Plan of Action for Sports: The Game Plan, which will focus not just on identifying and reporting hate speech, but on positive reactions that everyday people and famous athletes have taken (or are committing to take) to counter it.

The Game Plan is outlined by the acronym SPORT:

    • Speak openly and honestly about hate speech with athletes, employees, the public, and those who are targeted by hate speech;
    • Promote positive messages, practices, polices, and procedures to foster genuine respect and counter hate speech;
    • Organize specific outreach to communities of fans (from back yards to stadiums) to educate them about hate speech and its consequences and to try to intervene before violence and messages of hate that may lead to incitement of violence can take root;
    • Recognize, reward, and report success stories and positive impacts that athletes and sports figures who join the Game Plan; and
    • Train at all levels to identify and address hate speech.

    Sports Working Group Members

    The UN & Eradicate Hate Global Summit Sports Working Group includes a multitude of sport leagues from around the globe and its membership will continue to expand. Some of the key members of the Sports Working Group include:

    Interview with ALICE NDERITU, Special Advisor, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and a member of the Sports Working Group.

    Interview with MICHELE ROSENTHAL, Co-Chair, Eradicate Hate Global Summit Sports Working Group, member of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit Executive.

    The World of Sport: Global Communication of an Anti-Hate Message

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What is the UN & Eradicate Hate Global Summit Sports Working Group?

    It is a collaborative effort between the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect and the Eradicate Hate Global Summit aimed at exploring how to most effectively use the international love of sports teams and their athletes to counter the growing global proliferation of hate speech and by extension, extremism and hate-fueled violence.

    Everyone knows about the U.N., but what is the Eradicate Hate Global Summit?

    Eradicate Hate Global Summit is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history occurred in 2018 at the Tree of Life Synagogue. A heavily-armed gunman killed 11 worshipers. Several others, including a responding police officer were seriously wounded. In response, the community created an annual global summit that brings together leaders from government, academia, law, the non-profit sector, corporations, and journalism. The Eradicate Hate Global Summit is oriented toward finding effective solutions to hate-fueled extremism by forming year-round working groups that inform each subsequent
    annual Summit gathering.

    Why the emphasis on sports to tackle this problem?

    People around the world cheer on their favorite athletes and teams with incredible fervor. That fan loyalty and dedication imbues sports teams and athletes with a unique ability to shape viewpoints and to serve as global exemplars of the power of embracing diversity to counter hate speech. At a more basic community level, young people across the world engage in organized youth sports and less formal recreational sports, often imitating their favorite professional athlete or team. Around the globe, the power of sport can play a powerful role to counter hate, a cause that has never been more important than it is now.

    Specifically, how did the UN & Eradicate Hate Global Summit Sports Working Group come about?

    It was proposed by keynote speaker at the 2021 Eradicate Hate Global Summit. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the U.N. Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, proposed that the Summit and the U.N. work together to form an action plan for sports organizations and fans to reduce hate speech, based on the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech. See interview here.

    Who are the members of the UN & Eradicate Hate Global Summit Sports Working Group?

    The co-chairs:

    • Some of the members of the Sports Working Group include:
      • Major League Baseball (MLB)
      • Major League Soccer (MLS)
      • National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR)
      • National Basketball Association (NBA)
      • National Football League (NFL)
      • National Hockey League (NHL)
      • Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)
      • U.S. Soccer Federation, USWNT

    What is the Sports Working Group’s strategy to advance its goals?

    The team’s “Game Plan” is embodied in the acronym SPORT:

    •  Speak openly and honestly about hate speech with athletes, employees, the public and those who are targeted by hate speech.
    • Promote positive message practices policies and procedures to foster genuine respect and counter hate speech.
    • Organize specific outreach to communities of fans and players (from backyards to stadiums) to educate them about hate speech and its consequences in an effort to intervene before violence and message of hate that may lead to incitement of violence can take root.
    • Recognize, reward and report success stories and positive impacts of athletes and sports figures.
    • Train at all levels to identify and address hate speech.

    How will the UN & Eradicate Hate Global Summit Sports Working Group gauge success?

    The Game Plan will focus not just on identifying and reporting hate speech, but on positive reactions that everyday people and famous athletes have taken (or are committing to take) to counter it. The Game Plan will bring an identifiable brand, and further serve as a statement of unity — specifically, that we should embrace our differences, which are too often the targets of hate speech and instead focus on what brings the global sports community together—a love of the game.