We need to talk about sportswashing
Like many Brits I was captivated by the London 2012 Olympics. I watched every sport going, became an armchair coach across all disciplines, and grew particularly obsessive over cycling.
Watching the British cycling team excel in the velodrome and on the road lit a fire inside me and stoked it to the point I bought my first road bike as soon as the games finished. And I wasn’t alone. Following London 2012, the UK Government’s Cycle to Work Scheme saw an increase in uptake of 30%, cycling retailer Wiggle saw a 71% spike in UK users over the Olympics, and Halfords saw a 15% increase in bike sales.
The ‘Wiggo Effect’ gripped a nation as more and more people took to two wheels.
Now, sport in all its forms is a beautiful thing. It improves mental and physical health, unites people, promotes healthy competition, and fosters teamwork. Whether you’re watching it or taking part, it’s a source of joy the world over.
Not to sound too dramatic, but sport has the power to change the world. More than that, getting more people walking, running or cycling and less reliant on cars could help to save the world.
But there’s a dark side to sport and - predictably - it’s driven by money. This was demonstrated earlier this week by British Cycling’s announcement that it was partnering with Shell UK, the oil goliath, to help them accelerate their ‘path to Net Zero’. A perfect marriage of sportswashing and greenwashing if ever there was one.
So what is sportwashing?
Derived from the older term whitewashing, sportwashing occurs when businesses, governing bodies or even entire countries use sport to improve their public image or reputation. This aims to distract the public from their wrongdoings, or even normalise them.
While the term may be relatively new, the practise isn’t. It goes as far back as the 1936 Olympics held by Nazi Germany (and no doubt further). The Nazis rose to power after Berlin was awarded the 1936 games. International threats of boycott led to assurances by Hitler to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the games wouldn’t be used to spread his ideology.
Unsurprisingly, he didn’t keep his word. Stadiums were veiled with Nazi banners and symbols and only one Jewish athlete appeared on the German team, fencer Helene Mayer, enforced by the IOC. Despite international concerns at the time, 49 countries still chose to attend. As the first televised Olympics, the sporting event broadcasted Hitler’s Third Reich across the world.
More recently, sportswashing raised its unsubtle head when Qatar was awarded the 2022 Football World Cup. A Guardian investigation found that around 6500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since 2010, with dozens dying in the process of building the stadiums. In being awarded the event, Qatar is able to brush their oppressive human rights record under a sporting carpet… a carpet tactically embellished with David Beckham’s face.
Why is sportswashing bad?
As argued in an article by Fruh, Archer and Wojtowicz, sportwashing has two major problems for sport:
Complicity
By linking a sport or event with poor ethical practices you not only make the sport complicit but the athletes, coaches, and the fans. By continuing to support the 2022 World Cup, passionate football fans are inadvertently condoning Qatar’s human rights violations including, but not limited to: restrictions on free speech, criminalisation of same sex relationships, and violence against women.
It corrupts the values of the sport
In the case of British Cycling, the partnership with Shell UK completely negates the positive forces cycling could have on the climate emergency - an issue that resonates with many cyclists actively opting to use 2 wheels instead of 4.
In effect, everyone loses through sportswashing: the athletes, the coaches, the fans, and the sport itself.
How can we spot and stop sportswashing?
You can spot sportswashing quite easily. If a partnership or sponsorship with misaligned values arises, or if a business with questionable values harnesses the power and passion of sport, you have to question why it’s happening.
When it does happen, sportswashing needs to be called out. Businesses, governing bodies or countries need to be held to account. Sports, their athletes, and their fans need to be protected from being made complicit.
As Fruh, Archer and Wojtowicz argue there are two ways to tackle sportswashing:
Ending participation through boycotting teams or events
Transforming participation (resisting sportswashing whilst still participating through using the platform to stand against any injustice)
What’s refreshing from the reaction to the British Cycling announcement is that it was resoundingly negative. Thousands of people took to Twitter in dismay, many claiming they’ll be cancelling their membership. I’d be interested to know how many people did.
This is exactly the reaction needed. Calling sportswashing out, resisting it or ending participation to try and create change.
But it’s not just for the athletes or fans to resist. Sports governing bodies need to raise their standards, look beyond the money and think long term. They need to take a stronger moral stance. As a proud sufferer of the Wiggo Effect, I hope British Cycling in particular comes to its senses.
