.png)
1 hour ago
3
With the draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup set to take place on Friday, a report examining the participation of athletes convicted of sexual offences at major sporting events has highlighted significant distrust of international sports governing bodies in how they deal with these situations.
The report, titled No One Wants to Talk About It, is the result of interviews with elite athletes directly affected by sexual abuse and is intended to gauge attitudes around the eligibility and accreditation criteria for athletes with prior criminal sexual convictions and their participation at mega sporting events.
The athletes highlighted “institutional inaction, silence, or complicity” in a lack of regulation by Fifa and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), among other organizations.
The report is a collaboration between the Sports and Rights Alliance and Thomas More University in Belgium. The Sports and Rights Alliance is a coalition that includes Amnesty International, Football Supporters Europe, Human Rights Watch, and World Players Union as well as other trade unions and human rights groups.
In the report, athletes surveyed claimed a lack of clear safeguarding policies from professional clubs and federations, an absence of transparent standards for competition eligibility, and inconsistent responses from sports organizations to concerns raised by athletes about potential sexual abuse.
One athlete interviewed said sport governing bodies should “start by acknowledging that this is a problem” and “it’s as serious as making sure that there is proper grass,” a reference to controversies relating to high-level soccer matches (particularly within women’s soccer) being played on artificial turf.
“Distrust was something that came up in every single interview,” said Joanna Maranhão from Sports and Rights Alliance.. “This is something that we hear over and over again.”
The report also found there to be no consistent global approach to the participation of athletes with prior criminal sexual offences at major sporting competitions.
“There was a pattern of athletes, particularly male athletes, who commit sexual offences and while sometimes their contract is ended [by a club] their eligibility to participate is not revoked because of those offences,” Maranhão said.
“There is a second chance given to people because they are good at a sport but when we experience sexual violence or disclose that we have been impacted by violence it seems like [the response is] ‘Yeah you don’t really belong here. You’re not good enough. You are not tough enough’.”
The report highlighted the case of former Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Milan star Robinho, sentenced to prison by an Italian court in 2017 for participating in the rape of a woman in Milan in 2013. His conviction was upheld by Italy’s highest court in 2022 but the player initially avoided prison by remaining in his native Brazil, where laws prohibit the extradition of its citizens. Robinho was eventually jailed in Brazil when a local court upheld the Italian verdict. After his conviction, Robinho remained eligible to play.
“This case not only illustrates the global challenges of holding high-profile athletes accountable but also exposes how legal, geographic and cultural barriers can allow offenders to avoid facing the consequences of their actions since [Robinho’s] eligibility to compete has never been revoked,” the report said.
Also named is the Villarreal midfielder Thomas Partey. Partey plays internationally for Ghana and was charged this year by the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault that allegedly occurred between 2021 and 2022, while he played at Premier League club Arsenal. Partey pleaded not guilty to the charges in a London court appearance in September 2025. He is due to face trial in November 2026, after the Fifa World Cup to be co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico. He remains eligible to play for Ghana.
“If you look at the cases there is a back and forth between different organizations about who is responsible,” Maranhao said. “They say, no it is not me, it is them. If it’s not the international level it is the national level.”
The study acknowledges a complex dilemma between legal rights and ethical considerations to allow individuals convicted of sexual offences to participate in the high level competition.
“Legally, individuals who have served their sentences have the right to be reintegrated into society,” the report claims.
Maranhão adds: “We have binding documents for doping and for match-fixing and we need to have binding documents related to safe sport. There are strict rules for doping. We need to comply with the Wada code and the Olympic charter but there is not much around safe sport.”
It is as yet unclear how US immigration law might affect athletes with criminal convictions participating in the 2026 World Cup or the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Fifa did not respond to a request to confirm its own eligibility rules for its events, who has ultimate jurisdiction for eligibility criteria, or how US immigration laws may affect participants in next year’s World Cup.
Earlier this year, the Australian government banned the Netherlands beach volleyball player and convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde from entering Australia for the world championship even though he had been selected to represent the Netherlands at the event. Van de Velde was a member of the Netherlands team at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Maranhão, a former Olympic swimmer for Brazil, has had success as an advocate for victims of abuse. Her previous work led to the Brazilian government passing a law establishing a 20-year statute of limitations for sexual abuse of children and adolescents.
“I participated at four Olympics and I was not screened [for any sports events],” she said regarding background checks for athletes. “Last year I went to a one-day workshop and my accreditation for the event was pending on screening.”
“When we talk about harassment and abuse it actually damages the reputation of the sport and we need to shift the focus toward the people that are impacted. It is not as interesting to institutions to make that shift because it will make them look bad. [Sexual] harassment and abuse is way more complex [than doping]. There is this dome of silence and retaliation and a lack of institutional courage to challenge it.”
