Conceptualizing the Right to Sport: Why Should Trivial Participation in Sport Be Regarded as a Human Right?

Abstract

Considering its extraordinary capacity to be a vehicle of rights, and to give meaning to reality, sport is among the most important trivial subjects in the world. Discriminated groups, which are denied (or substantially limited) access to the practice of sport, demand not only their right to participate in sporting activities but also the recognition of this claim as valid by society and public authorities. This chapter proposes the idea that expanding the catalogue of human rights, by including the right to sport, is supported by the existing body of international human rights law. It would reinforce the protection of human rights in sporting contexts by enhancing the unity of fragmented claims founded on a plurality of legal instruments. Taking into consideration the thesis that inclusive and non-discriminatory access to sporting activities would be an amalgamation of several treaty-based rights, the legal foundations of the right to sport are explained and evaluated. By verifying the legal relationship between access to sporting activities and sport’s social functions, the beneficiaries of such a right are investigated, and the obligations for national and sporting authorities are explored. By arguing that the right to pursue personal development would play a central role, while the right to health and education would be complementary, this chapter strives to answer the essential ethical question of why the trivial participation in sport should be considered an inherent right of the human being, cutting through the considerable confusion surrounding the right to sport.