Human rights activists and mainstream media are increasingly shining a spotlight on human rights abuse stemming from preparations for major global sporting events.

With this increased scrutiny, activists are ramping up pressure on event sponsors, claiming that they hold sufficient power and sway to influence change, or to penalize organizers for abuses by pulling sponsorships altogether.

In this piece written for The B Team, Phil Bloomer of the Business and Human Rights Resource Center, highlights the business risk sponsors take when associating with events and governments responsible for human rights abuse and the moral case for sponsors to take action.