By Paul Nicholson in New York
November 5 – Former US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, speaking at the Securing Sport 2015 conference in New York, sent a strong message out on the importance of sport security: securing sport integrity from corruption, securing vulnerable athletes; and securing events from terrorist attack.
Rice recognised the power of sports saying: “Sports is a way to see the world as it should be, not as it is…It has the power to overcome differences.” But she also issued a stark warning on corruption and said that government will absolutely get involved to protect its rights and sport itself.
Rice is not a political interloper into the world of sports, it is something she is passionate about and in many ways uniquely qualified to contribute to in an increasingly geo-politicised sports world – though she does not pretend to be an expert on soccer.
She is however an expert on American Football and serves on the College Football Playoff selection committee and has been mooted for the job of NFL commissioner, a position she once described as her dream job. Rice is the first female member of the Augusta National (golf) and an NFL honoree.
Rice spoke about the three elements she sees that are core to the security of sport. Firstly there is the security of integrity. Sport intrinsically doesn’t have this integrity, “it can’t have this function”, she said. But it is vital that sports meets its challenges to play fairly on the field and off it – “integrity is vital”.
Her second tenet was that vulnerable athletes, especially children, need to be protected. “We must support the most vulnerable people,” she said and included women in sport in this category. “If women are treated as second class citizens our response is to say this is not OK. Women have to have a right to excel at sports… Equality is not only the right thing to do but it is also the necessary thing to do for society.”
Her third security category was for venues and events. “After 9/11 we knew we were facing a different kind of threat than before. We were hardening securing around our power plants, hardening our military bases… but we were aware we could drive terrorists to softer targets. We were worried about the World Series and the Athens Olympics. Terrorists would like nothing better than to score a major hit at an international sporting event.”
Asked about politics and sports, Rice drew a distinction between political and social messages. She is against boycotts, including being critical of the US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics which she felt was a “weak response” to Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan. “Using sports to send a political signal isn’t the right thing to do,” she said.
This is different to, for example, sending an anti-homophobia message – like that sent to Russia over the Sochi Olympics. “That (the state-backed homophobia) impacts athletes. It says it is open season on gay athletes,” she said. “We managed to put pressure on the Russians to make sure gay athletes were protected.”
But how far should sport and politics interact? “Certainly the government role is to make sure corruption is prosecuted. US law should not be used to shield corruption. The US is a very powerful country and it is a definition of a great power that it will shape the international environment. Of course we use our weight to do this. It is also the right of the US to go outside its territory, if necessary, to make sure US laws are not violated.
“Corruption is the greatest tax on human development in almost any country of the world you can think of.”
Turning to football and its governing body, she said: “FIFA has appointed a reform commission, which is the right step to maintain its independence and never have this again.
“We don’t know what US corporations were saying to FIFA. People will be investigated, people will be prosecuted and found innocent or guilty – that is the process that will be played out.”
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