The article outlines main directions of international legal regulation of physical culture and sport in the United Nations system at the present stage. The author analyzes the powers of the UN General Assembly and its subsidiary body — the Human Rights Council, the UN Security Council, and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the UN Secretariat. The author demonstrates how an unfavourable outcome of a football match can become a catalyst for aggravating an interstate dispute and its subsequent transfer to the International Court of Justice. The article describes the interaction between the Olympic movement and two of the UN specialized agencies — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Health Organization.