Sabrina Razack, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education (KPE), recently spoke at the Sporting Chance Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. The international conference was hosted by the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, where Razack also holds a position, contributing her expertise to ensure human rights are enforced at the 2026 World Cup in Canada, US and Mexico.
Other speakers included Carla Qualtrough, Canada’s Minister of Sport, Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, and Caster Semenya, South Africa’s middle-distance runner and two-time Olympic champion.
“CSHR organizes a Sporting Chance Forum every two years, bringing together all actors in the sport ecosystem to discuss the future of sport and human rights,” says Razack. “Having sport broadcasters, sponsors, athletes, sport governing bodies, journalists, host cities of mega sporting events and government officials all in the same room engaging in critical discussions resulted in knowledge transfer of ideas, wise practices and massive networking opportunities for attendees.”
For Razack, the highlight of the conference was meeting Semenya, the champion runner who’s been embroiled in a legal battle against track and field rules that force her to suppress her natural testosterone to compete. [Earlier this year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that she had been discriminated against, but they didn't strike down the contentious athletics regulations.]
“I got emotional when speaking with her and sharing the profound impact she has had on my thinking, inspiring me to continue to advance gender equity issues in sport and generate awareness of sex discrimination in athletics,” says Razack. “I also mentioned to her that the students I teach at KPE were greatly influenced by her plight and battle for equality on and off the track.”
Razack organized a session on truth, justice, repair and reconciliation, which focused on opportunities in sport to address racial inequality and legacies of colonialism, and moderated a session on voice, agency and action that looked at ways to engage young journalists in communities and at mega-sporting events.
During that session, the launch of the Youth Media Forward Initiative was announced. The initiative will work with 40 youth reporters (aged 13 - 18) in four of the FIFA World Cup 2026 host cities, during the preparations for and delivery of the event.
“Journalists play an important role shining a light on the local and international human rights dimensions of sport and major sporting events,” says Razack. “Through the Youth Media Forward initiative, young reporters will have the opportunity to create stories that influence the actions of host governments and other decision-makers, and to help shape the future of journalism on sport and human rights.”
In addition to this, all attendees of the international conference were encouraged to take a pledge to commit to delivering responsible sport and invited to make their own public commitments to address the most important issues in sport and human rights.