ABSTRACT
The scope of human rights action has been supported and criticized for focusing on liberal individualism and the need to address wider inequalities. The social dimension and possibilities of global sport remain empty slogans amid constant historical reminders that proclaiming the principles of equality, justice and the eradication of poverty is not sufficient to make a reality of them. There is just one thing that many corporate lobbyists and social movements understand and that is that the real issue is not trade but power. A fundamental gap continues to exist, both within sport and capitalism and between the outcome of universal, often Western prescriptions and local realities about human rights. This chapter has suggested that there continues to be a need for public action, not just an understanding and evidencing of sport and rights violations. There is often perceived to be a messianic fundamentalism that tends to propagate a particular interpretation of human rights across high- and middle-income countries.
