The Global Centre for Sport and Human Rights is chaired by former Ireland President and former United Nations High Commissioner for human rights Mary Robinson.

According to Human Rights Watch, the centre has the "potential to curb human rights abuses tied to sports and assist victims".

The organisation, set up under the auspices of the Institute for Human Rights and Business, will also attempt to address abuses linked to major sporting events such as the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup.

The International Olympic Committee, FIFA, UEFA and the Commonwealth Games Federation - who published a guide on boosting human rights in sport earlier this year - are among the sports organisations included as part of the centre.

Human rights concerns have been constant in the build-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, while similar fears have been expressed concerning Minsk's hosting of next year's European Games.

"Major sporting events have been marred by jailing and harassment of journalists, abuses of workers’ rights, environmental destruction, and abusive sweeps of poor neighborhoods," Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, said.

"Sports fans don’t want to sit in a stadium built by exploited, cheated, and abused workers - or worse, a facility that cost lives to construct."

Worden claimed how the newly-established centre deals with human rights abuses connected to the Qatar 2022 World Cup would be a "an important first test of the centre's ability to help end and remedy abuses".

"Sport has the power to be a uniting force for good in society in ways little else can," reads the mission of the Centre. 

"By harnessing this power and acting collectively, the diversity of actors involved in the world of sport have the potential to deliver concrete impacts for those affected by sport.

"The Centre works towards a vision of a world of sport that full respects human rights by sharing knowledge, building capacity, and strengthening the accountability of all actors through collective action and promotion of the sporting chance principles."