Director-General's Opening remarks at the Exhibition “Sports. Crowds. Power.”

Opening of the exhibition “Sports. Crowds. Power.”
Monday, 8 September 2025, at 1.00 p.m.
Salles des Pas Perdus, Palais des Nations

Ambassador Leendertse,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honour to welcome you all to the opening of this exhibition: Sports. Crowds. Power. Let me take this opportunity to thank the Permanent Mission of Germany, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the World Jewish Congress (WJC) for bringing this powerful exhibition to the Palais des Nations.  

This exhibition recalls a painful chapter of our history. It documents how Jewish athletes and sporting associations were excluded, marginalized, and ultimately persecuted under the Nazi regime. Sport, a universal language that should unite people, was instead manipulated to promote hatred and exclusion.

At the same time, we are reminded that sport can also provide spaces of resilience for some, even in the darkest of times. In the face of persecution, athletes and communities found ways to preserve dignity, to resist erasure, and to hold onto the values of solidarity and courage.

Eighty years on, it remains essential to remember this dark period. Today, sport reaches billions of people. It is one of the most powerful platforms for bringing families, communities, cities and nations together, but it can still mirror the prejudices and inequalities that persist in our societies. Discrimination - whether based on religion, ethnicity, gender, or any other ground - remains a challenge in sport and beyond. We must not allow the injustices that Jewish athletes endured to be repeated.

At the United Nations, we are committed to ensuring that sport remains a force for peace, equality and human rights. We draw particular inspiration from the Refugee Olympic Team, supported by the UNHCR. Their presence on the world stage embodies resilience, hope, and dignity, showing how sport can help those who have lost everything, transcend borders, and unite people in a shared spirit of humanity.

Sport is also a vital enabler of sustainable development. It promotes tolerance and respect, empowers women, young people and persons with disabilities, and strengthens health, education, and social inclusion. Through initiatives such as Football for the Goals, engaging the global football community on the SDGs, WHO’s Sport for Health programme, and UNEP’s Sports for Nature partnership, the United Nations work to ensure that sport continues to help build stronger, fairer and more inclusive societies.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Eighty years after the end of the Second World War and the Holocaust, remembrance and education remain as important as ever. In an increasingly turbulent world, we see how easily intolerance can take root when left unchecked. Remembering the injustices of the past is essential for ensuring inclusion in the present and in the future. It is incumbent upon all of us to reject antisemitism, racism, and other forms of discrimination, and instead actively promote tolerance, understanding, and peace.

Let us commit ourselves to ensuring that sport is never again misused as a tool of hate or exclusion. Instead, let us work together to keep sport as a universal platform for inclusion, empowerment, and peace.

I thank the organizers once again for this inspiring exhibition. I hope you will all take the time to reflect on the stories it tells in the coming days.

Thank you.