International sporting events are increasingly held in autocracies
Regimes time crackdowns to minimise embarrassment over human rights
There are no democratic litmus tests for hosts of global sporting events. From the Nazi Olympics to Argentina’s football World Cup in 1978, unsavoury regimes have long used such competitions to burnish their prestige and supercharge nationalism. But 30 years ago, the vast majority of tournaments took place in democracies. Only during the past decade have cases like the 2022 men’s football World Cup, which kicks off in Qatar on November 20th, begun to look like the norm again.
This article appeared in the Graphic detail section of the print edition under the headline “Poisoned chalices”
From the November 19th 2022 edition
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