Whistleblowers share the human costs of speaking truth to power in sport

“I didn’t choose the spotlight. They dragged me into it.” 

This was among the powerful opening statements made by Abdullah Ibhais during the plenary session about whistleblowing.

The Jordanian national was referring to Qatar’s Supreme Committee, which imprisoned Ibhais on fabricated charges after he refused, in his role as the committee’s media manager, to distort the reality of migrant workers’ suffering in the lead-up to the 2022 World Cup. 

For daring to oppose the Qatari regime, Ibhais spent more than three years in prison. And yet, he insists he is not a hero. He once believed in Qatar’s World Cup and wanted to contribute to what he considered to be a “great project.” 

That, however, was before he witnessed first-hand the abuse of migrant workers in Qatar, and the state’s elaborate efforts to deflect and deny those abuses. After attempting to inform Qatari authorities of migrant worker abuse, he was thrown in jail, where he experienced physical abuse and torture at the hands of prison guards. 

In a candid one-on-one interview with Play the Game founder Jens Sejer Andersen, Ibhais revisited the harrowing months he spent behind bars and the heavy price he paid for exposing Qatar’s exploitation of migrant workers. And yet, against all odds, he insists he was more fortunate than others around him.

“I think I got lucky,” he said.  

International sport failed to support Afghan cyclists

Ibhais’ remarks were followed by a presentation by Shannon Galpin, a human rights activist and the founder of Combat Apathy—a social justice arts and culture project. 

Galpin was the first person to mountain bike in Afghanistan in 2009 and even made the perilous crossing of the Panjshir Valley, even though women in Afghanistan are forbidden from cycling.

She spent 8 years researching gender barriers in cycling and developing human rights projects in Afghanistan, and went on to support and train the first generation of women cyclists in the country between 2012-16. 

At the time, the sport was considered taboo for women and girls, making it a dangerous activity for them to participate in. And after Kabul fell to the extremist Taliban in 2021, cycling, like all sports, were banned for women. 

Galpin reflected on her journey with the team and the work she has since embarked on to help evacuate the cyclists and their families, which was financed by crowdfunding and individual donors. None of the sports leagues, including the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) - the world governing body for cycling - offered any assistance. 

However, Galpin noted that UCI was more than happy to create a photo-op with the 200 evacuated cyclists in Switzerland, where they were dressed up in Israel–Premier Tech team jerseys and posed with the team’s Canadian Israeli billionaire bankroller Sylvan Adams. 

“Wealthy white men with enormous power and connections in cycling stood on stage, claimed my work as their own, and used Muslim refugees as a marketing tool,” Galpin concluded.

"The level of heroism is beyond measure"

Lawyer John Manly, who represented American former artistic gymnast Maggie Nichols (among many other survivors) in the Larry Nassar abuse scandal, spoke about building his case against USA Gymnastics and the other institutions that failed the athletes and victims of sexual abuse. 

Manly spoke about how he helped Nichols with her statement about being the first to report Nassar’s misconduct, and pressing USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and Michigan State University for accountability for how they handled her allegations (and similar ones) over time. 

Over time, this resulted in some significant settlements and resolutions, including a 500 million US dollar recovery against Michigan State University for Manly’s clients. 

And though Manly revealed that he was able to demand numerous institutions to make policy changes to ensure no child under their care is ever abused again, he still believes that sexual abuse in minors remains “commonplace.” 

Nevertheless, Manly believes Nichols’ bravery and the landmark success of the Nassar case could be a turning point for whistleblowers and survivors alike. 

“The level of heroism and decency that [Maggie] showed is beyond measure,” Manly said as he concluded his talk. 

“And I will tell you what I told her the first time I met her as an Oklahoma freshman sitting in a crappy conference room in some hotel in Norman, Oklahoma, which is: ‘You will never meet the children you saved, but they exist.”