China will continue to cause controversy, with February’s Beijing Winter Games approaching, and not only because of the challenge that organisers now face over the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Already hit by a flurry of diplomatic boycotts because of widespread allegations of Chinese human rights atrocities, there will be significant interest in how athletes handle the event, especially given the renewed activism of recent years, with more and more competitors speaking out about a range of social issues.
The same applies to the Qatar World Cup of course, another hugely controversial mega-event, not least because of concerns over the treatment of migrant workers.
A full 11 years after Qatar was handed the right to host the tournament by Fifa, the scrutiny shows no sign of abating. This year saw the first protests by players, with Germany, Norway and the Netherlands expressing their concerns over human rights before qualifying games, and it will be fascinating to see whether this continues, and whether British teams add their voices as the tournament looms into view.
Expect continued focus on football’s relationship with both the gambling industry and virtual currencies, and on vaccine hesitancy in the game, as all sports continue to grapple with the ramifications of the pandemic.
While it should be far less contentious than Beijing and Qatar, the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham will still be the biggest and most expensive sports event staged in Britain since London 2012, with lots at stake for organisers. It will make history by becoming the first ever major multi-sport event to award more medals to women than men. And with the Commonwealth Games Federation preparing to overhaul the format of future events as it desperately seeks new hosts and renewed relevance, Birmingham could also be the last of its kind.
England’s staging of the postponed Euros meanwhile will be a significant opportunity for women’s sport, after so much progress in recent years. With the pandemic doing such harm to community sport and rates of physical activity over the past two years, the sense is that the opportunity for inspiration and legacy offered by Birmingham, the Euros – and another delayed event to be staged in England – the Rugby League World Cup – must be seized.
