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The FWWC2023 presents major
opportunities to promote and advance
the sport amongst Māori whānau
(families) and communities, as well as
for strengthening the representation
and voice of Māori within the sport’s
domestic structures. Organisers for
other MSEs have developed initiatives to
support tamariki (children) and rangatahi
(young people) involvement with events –
see for example the work initiated by the
ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022.92
It will be vital that Māori women’s
leadership, rights, and unique role
and status from a cultural perspective
(mana wahine) are given due
prominence. Women’s sporting events
often present women in the advertising
alongside children rather than performing
their sport whereas the advertising for
men presents them as strong and larger
than life.
Stakeholders identified this as an
opportunity to challenge that and set
a precedent for future sporting events.
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Māori culture and values featured
prominently in the original Aotearoa New
Zealand bid, including the core principles
of Manaakitanga, Kaitiakitanga, and
Kotahitanga. There is an opportunity for
this theme to continue, and for Te Ao
Māori (the Māori world) to be at the
heart of the tournament in a genuine
and authentic way. Stakeholders
recognised this as an opportunity for FIFA
to look back at previous events at where
they failed to fully engage or represent
Indigenous people and learn from that.
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It was also identified that FIFA has
significant social capital so by being vocal
about the standards it is setting in a
number of areas there is an opportunity
to educate on and normalise upholding
human rights, thus raising the bar for
other major events.
FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup Human Rights Risk Assessment • 67