One Month to World Cup: How Western Media Demonizes Qatar
© AFP 2023 / KARIM JAAFAR
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The FIFA World Cup, one of the most important events in the sporting world, will kick off in Qatar in exactly one month on November 20. But western press is already trying to slander the hosts.
Qatar is the first Arab country to be honored to host the World Cup in the history of the competition, and has made every effort to ensure that the championship takes place at the highest level possible. However, western media has developed a series of myths designed to smear the World Cup’s organization even before it starts. Let's find out which myths have become the most popular and why they are false.
Western press myths, in particular from the European press, about the "horrible" World Cup organization repeats the rhetoric used before the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Western media tendentiously lashes out with accusations against non-European countries hosting this event.
The Guardian was the first to criticize Qatar: it was dissatisfied with the World Cup being held in winter, the most favorable time of the year for Qatar. In an article titled "Mess of Contradictions," Qatar was accused of disrupting the European national tournament grid, which would allegedly only ruin the playing season.
The myth was refuted by Harry Kane, England's captain and top scorer in the last tournament. He noted that holding the tournament in winter will only improve the position of European players. It is at this time of the year, not at the end of the season in summer, that players are at their peak form.
An aerial view shows the pearl Qatar project in Doha, Qatar, Thursday, April 8, 2010
© AP Photo / Hassan Ammar
Western media likewise chose the alleged violation of workers' rights as another reason to smear the host country. For example, the Washington Post published an article that reported mass deaths of foreign workers during the construction of the stadium. However, after Qatar's Foreign Ministry refuted the story, the article was corrected.
According to Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, the problem of the treatment of foreign workers in Qatar is “strongly inflated and exaggerated”. The statement was made after Denmark's technical sponsor Hummel Sport made three sets of uniforms for the national team in which the Danish emblem and logo are almost invisible as a protest against alleged human rights infringement in Qatar against the lives of thousands of migrant workers.
Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), which is organizing the World Cup, hit back at the Danish team's demarche.
“We strongly disagree with Hummel Sport's claims that the tournament cost workers their lives. We are surprised at how easily our guests disregard the safety and healthcare we have built for our construction workers. Not a single one of the 30,000 construction workers who were involved in stadium construction was harmed. On the contrary, preparations for the World Cup have contributed to important reforms in protecting the rights of migrant workers.”
But one of the biggest fakes was launched on social media just a few weeks before the start of the World Cup in Qatar. Netizens began to spread a publication that warned, among other things, against going to Qatar in usual European open clothes, taking pictures in mosques, making noise and foul language, as well as dating, while in the country. The recording was captioned “Qatar welcomes you.”
However, the organizing committee of the World Cup in Qatar called the publication fake: neither the Supreme Committee nor the Qatar Tourism Authority had anything to do with it, with no one in Doha ever issuing such recommendations.
“The information does not correspond to reality. Qatar invites absolutely everyone to enjoy the tournament, and is as open as possible to fan culture,” the statement said.
A picture taken with a fisheye lens on May 19, 2017, shows a general view of the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, after it was refurbished ahead of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, as fans arrive to attend the Qatar Emir Cup Final football match between Al-Sadd and Al-Rayyan
© AFP 2023 / KARIM JAAFAR
In turn, Qatar's newspaper Al-Sharq analyzed the attacks on the organization of the World Cup not only in Qatar but also in Russia, Brazil, and South Africa. It would appear that the West does not want the tournament to take place in any non-western countries.
"Western media did not criticize the 1998 and 2006 World Cups in France and Germany, respectively. But actively criticized South Africa in 2010 for insecurity, Brazil in 2018 for widespread poverty of the local population, Russia in 2018 for ‘insufficient freedom’ and finally Qatar in 2022 for the contrived problem with foreign workers. For some reason, the western world does not want to see the World Cup anywhere but Europe," the newspaper concluded.
