This July, Montechio, a town in northern Italy, will host a new Anti-Racist World Cup. The Sports League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights (LISPED) will be the guest of the Italian Sport Union for the 11 th annual gathering around the ball. It’s a good opportunity for LISPED, a Congolese organization, to not only leave its borders, but also to show that its action can be a solution to resolving the problem of the mistreatment of black athletes.

A Fight Against the Violation of Athletes’ Rights 

Currently, there exist a multitude of fraudulent transfers, illegal contracts and others types of exploitation. African athletes are confronted by a series of different violations of their rights. Lack of a contract, of a salary or insurance, as well as vandalism, violence and racism have become more and more frequent. If they attempt to file a complaint, they are dismissed from the team. European clubs as well as local authorities benefit from the extraordinary chance offered by an athletic career for young Africans, who are easy prey due to their lack of prospects and their illiteracy.
At the end of law school, a group of college students was deeply affected by remarks given during a seminar on human rights. Shortly after the celebration of the 50 th anniversary of the Human Rights Universal Declaration in the University of Kinshasa, and still quite conscious of their own involvement in college sports, these students decided to unite to create the organization LISPED. Supported by activists and advocates around the world, this association is resolved to not leave the rights of Congolese and other African athletes on the sidelines. It has mobilized to help athletes who are in danger of being victimized by violence and exploitation. LISPED’s motto: listen, verify, and act.

	© LISPED/ Alain Makengo, lawyer and president of LISPED, an activist working right up to the bleachers

Lobbying and Awareness Raising 

Through press releases, news conferences, protest marches and other seminars, LISPED addresses government and athletic directors to lead them to adopt changes. A lobbying effort in Congo, for example, has allowed for the creation of a commission charged with developing a law to protect athletes’ rights. Currently, LISPED is on the brink of filing a lawsuit in order to reinstate the rights of injured basketball and judoka players, both members of the national team, because the government doesn’t want to be responsible for them.LISPED handles the protection of rights as well as the promotion of social values through sports, favouring integration through fair play, non-violence and anti-racism. The organization uses a very simple pedagogy to raise consciousness amongst athletes to respect the sports law “Victory, equality, defeat,” but it simultaneously teaches them to stand up for their rights. 

During the World Social Forum, the League became aware that their fight for non-violence in Democratic Republic of Congo needed to be part of a more wide spread mobilization in Africa. Alan Makengo, a lawyer as well as the league’s president, noted that “nothing can’t be resolved if African countries don’t unify to tackle these problems.” The African Network for Peace in Sports, of which LISPED is a member, includes countries such as Kenya, Algeria, Madagascar, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda, and has become the symbol of the kind of mobilization necessary, representing efficiency and hope for the future.