A/HRC/62/55 and senior operational roles in European football are held by white men. The impact of this lack of racial representation has been shown to include weaknesses in institutional responses to racism.42 29. The racial, religious, caste and class hierarchies that persist in cricket also persist in the governance of the sport. For example, in a report prepared in 2023, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, based on extensive evidence it had gathered, concluded that “deeply rooted and widespread forms of structural and institutional racism, sexism and class-based discrimination continue to exist across the game”.43 Data shows that in England and Wales, South Asians comprise approximately 26 to 29 per cent of the recreational cricket-playing population but account for only 2.8 per cent of cricket’s most senior leadership positions. Black representation within senior governance structures is almost entirely absent.44 30. Another example is the launching of the Hamilton Commission in 2021, as a response to Sir Lewis Hamilton’s concerns about the lack of racial and ethnic diversity within Formula 1 and the broader motorsport industry. In its report, Accelerating Change: Improving Representation of Black People in Motorsport, the Commission highlighted that only a small proportion of roles in senior leadership, team management, technical and engineering capacities and governance structures in motorsports are occupied by Black persons or persons from other racialized groups. F. Racist incidents, including hate speech 31. The Special Rapporteur received several submissions detailing racist incidents that had taken place within sports, including disturbing racist chants and racist insults directed toward players and fans. While many such incidents reportedly occurred in the context of elite and highly visible sporting competitions, amateur athletes at the grass-roots level, including children, are also targeted.45 Racist incidents that take place at the sporting events are often compounded by hateful online discourse. Online racial abuse amplifies racism directed towards athletes and fans; it is “instantaneous, anonymous, scalable, and global in its reach”. 46 Offline and online racism can also intersect with homophobic, transphobic, ableist and sexist discourse, leading to intersectional discrimination. 32. Several submissions raised concerns that racist attacks in sports have been increasing due to the current political climate and the increasing digitalization of sports. 47 While there are significant gaps in racially and ethnically disaggregated data on racist incidents in sports, there are data sources that validate this concern. For example, data collected by the civil society organization Kick It Out suggests that racist incidents, including those motivated by antisemitic and Islamophobic sentiments, have been increasing at the professional and grass-roots levels in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland over recent years.48 33. The Special Rapporteur received disturbing information about incidences of racism directed towards women and girls playing football at the junior and amateur adult levels in Switzerland. For example, in one reported case, a young player from Grasshopper Club Zürich was subjected to racist abuse by an assistant coach from the opposing team during a junior girls’ match, and the abuse was not effectively addressed during the match. 49 The 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 10 Steven Bradbury, “Institutional racism, whiteness and the under-representation of minorities in leadership positions in football in Europe”, Soccer and Society, vol. 14, No. 3 (2013). Ibid. Ibid., p. 11. Submission from Portugal. Submission from Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime. Submissions from Portugal; FAIR – Fide Research Monitoring Reporting; Elizka Relief Foundation; Juan Pierre and Mouvman Lavwa Dime; and humanrights.ch. Kick It Out, “Incident reporting 2024/25” (2025). Submission from humanrights.ch. GE.26-07112