Op-Ed May 9, 2025 Why is Saudi Arabia at the Gold Cup? It’s the latest in the Kingdom’s soft power campaign Last month, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) held an official draw in Miami, Florida for the 2025 Gold Cup, the premier biennial tournament for men’s football on the continent.
Op-Ed Mar 19, 2025 Kirsty Coventry—the Soft Face of Zimbabwe’s Dictatorship—Could Be the Next President of the IOC | Opinion The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is set to select a new president this week to succeed Thomas Bach. In a field of seven candidates, Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry, Africa’s most decorated Olympian, could make history as the first woman to head the IOC.
Blog Post Mar 11, 2025 The Playbook: How Syria’s brutal Assad regime used football to maintain power Welcome to The Playbook, an explainer series from HRF’s Sports & Dictators program that explores the intersection of sports and politics in authoritarian regimes and decodes the disturbing narratives behind the games we love.
Blog Post Feb 10, 2025 The Playbook: How Saudi Arabia uses tennis to present a facade of women’s reforms When Saudi Arabia hosted one of the most important events in professional women’s tennis, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals, in November, it wasn’t, of course, without controversy. The New York Times put it this way:
Blog Post Oct 18, 2024 A History of Sports & Dictators, Part 4: Soviet Sports propaganda When Tsar Peter I — better known as Peter the Great — visited England in 1689, he arranged what has been called the “first international boxing match” in the garden of the nobleman’s home.
Blog Post Sep 6, 2024 A History of Sports & Dictators, Part 3: Post-WWII Soft Power Long before the inception of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, sports have been used to distract the masses, test foreign policies, thaw diplomatic tensions, and broadcast political and social messaging.
Publication Aug 27, 2024 US senators call out NBA’s relationship with Rwanda dictator Paul Kagame: ‘Putting profit over principle’ Two United States senators have accused the NBA of “putting profit over principle,” which was detailed in a letter sent to commissioner Adam Silver…
Publication Aug 27, 2024 Oregon Sen. Merkley raises concerns over reported NBA ties to Rwandan dictatorship Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley sent a letter to National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday, raising concerns over the organization’s reported ties to dictators.
Publication Aug 27, 2024 NBA under fire: U.S. Senators slam league’s ties to controversial Rwandan leader The NBA finds itself in the hot seat once again, but this time, it’s not over a controversial call or a player feud-it’s a matter of global ethics.
Blog Post Aug 9, 2024 A History of Sports & Dictators, Part 2: The Rise of Fascism Long before the inception of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, sports have been used to distract the masses, test foreign policies, thaw diplomatic tensions, and broadcast political and social messaging.
Publication May 17, 2024 Bad Business In my Impromptus today, I have some sports — starting with Simone Biles — and some presidential politics — a lot of that — and some language — the shape-shifting of English — and other matters. Try it here.
Blog Post Feb 9, 2024 A History of Sports and Dictators, Part 1: From Ramses II to Rome’s Bread & Circuses In the Olympic Games of 416, Athenian statesman and military general Alcibiades fielded seven teams in one of the most prestigious Olympic events, the four-horse chariot race known as the quadriga.
Blog Post Jan 12, 2024 Fueling Ambition: Aramco’s pivotal role in Saudi Arabia’s sports expansion In November 2023, news broke that Aramco—Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil and energy giant—was set to complete a “significant sponsorship” deal with FIFA that would make it the football governing body’s biggest sponsor over the coming decade.
Report Nov 18, 2022 Qatar’s Human Rights Record in the World’s Spotlight Qatar, a country ruled by a monarchic authoritarian government, is hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Hosting the top global football tournament is the result of a decade-long project by the government of Qatar to strategically exploit the prestige and popular appeal of sports to grow its global influence, cultivate a favorable image in popular culture, and boost its economy.
Report Nov 18, 2022 Arabic Edition of Qatar Human Rights Report Qatar, a country ruled by a monarchic authoritarian government, is hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Hosting the top global football tournament is the result of a decade-long project by the government of Qatar to strategically exploit the prestige and popular appeal of sports to grow its global influence, cultivate a favorable image in popular culture, and boost its economy.
Blog Post Dec 17, 2021 Igniting the Truth Against Authoritarian Sportswashing It is no secret that over the past several years, respect for democratic institutions and human rights has deteriorated around the world.
Press Release Dec 7, 2021 HRF Applauds Biden Administration’s Diplomatic Boycott of 2022 Beijing Olympics NEW YORK (December 7, 2021) – The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) welcomes the Biden administration’s announcement of a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
Press Release May 26, 2021 HRF & Lantos to Olympics: Don’t Invite Dictators to the Opening Ceremonies NEW YORK (May 26, 2021) — The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) and the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice (Lantos Foundation) today launched the “Empty Box” Campaign
Press Release May 25, 2021 HRF to NBA: Don’t Play Ball With Rwanda’s Warmonger NEW YORK (May 25, 2021) – This week, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) sent a letter to the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Commissioner
Press Release Jan 15, 2021 HRF to International Ice Hockey Federation Council: Don’t Legitimize Dictatorship in Belarus NEW YORK (January 15, 2021) – Today, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) sent a letter to René Fasel, the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)
