'Sportswashing' highlights long list of concerns heading into Qatar World Cup
Accusation of fake fans, questions of media freedom also linger
Qatar's decision to launch itself into hosting the 2022 World Cup was a head-scratcher from the start. Why, some wondered, would a Middle Eastern emirate with fewer than 3 million people and little soccer tradition want to host the sport's biggest event?
Skeptics say the country wanted to use the prestige of the World Cup, which starts Sunday, to remake its image as a natural-gas producer with a shaky human-rights record.
They viewed the move, which will cost the country some $220 billion US, as a classic case of "sportswashing" — using sports as a forum to cast a country or company as different than many people perceive.
It is hardly a new concept, and Middle Eastern money has long been a major player. Qatar has extensive international connections through its diplomacy and other efforts. Where many see Qatar and other rich nations spending money to join the global elite, others see nefarious attempts to hide undesired reputations.
WATCH | CBC Sports' Shireen Ahmed examines 'sportswashing' phenomenon:
"The Qatar World Cup kickstarted discussion about sportswashing and human rights in football and it has been very steep learning curve for us all," Norway soccer federation president Lise Klaveness said at a recent Council of Europe event.
Germany's interior minister also expressed concern about bringing the event to Qatar, saying "no World Cup takes place in a vacuum."
"There are criteria that have to be kept to, and then it would be better not to award to such states," minister Nancy Faeser said last month in a move that sparked diplomatic tensions.
The World Cup is just one way Qatar is using its massive wealth to project influence. By buying sports teams and hosting high-profile events, Qatar has been integrating itself into international finance and a network of support.
Paris-Saint Germain (PSG) of Ligue 1 is owned by the emir of Qatar. His 2011 purchase came a year after Qatar won the right to host the World Cup. For many, it felt like it was scripted to show that the country has soccer bona fides. Some of PSG's players are among the world's most famous — Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi — and all will be in the World Cup.
The new LIV Golf league is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, which also owns a Premier League team, Newcastle, while defending English champion Manchester City is Abu Dhabi-owned.
Some of those teams' best players, including Kevin de Bruyne, Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimarães, will play for Belgium and England and Brazil in the World Cup.
None of these players, or owners, received the same sort of public condemnation as those in golf who left the PGA Tour to play for LIV. Just as was the case when the soccer teams were purchased, there has never been any mystery about who funded LIV, which has brazenly branded itself as a disruptive force in golf that will change the sport for the better.
Families of 9/11 victims became vocal critics of LIV golf, pointing out Saudi Arabia's shaky human-rights record and the country's connection to the attacks.
"Sportswashing takes place all over the world in some form, where there are people, or governments, or businesses attaching themselves to big and small events everywhere." said Jamal Blades, a soccer-loving London tech firm manager who occasionally blogs about sports and recently completed his Master's in sports business and innovation.
Another example of the sports washing phenomenon happened at the most recent Olympics. Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, used the occasion of the Winter Olympics in Beijing to hold a summit and show solidarity this year, in hopes to dilute controversies that surrounded both governments.
The Asian Winter Games announced it would hold the 2029 version of its event in Saudi Arabia, who is spending some $500 billion to build a winter resort it claims will be environmentally sustainable.
Qatar, which ranks 19th in oil exports and also shares the world's largest underwater natural-gas field with Iran, wanted to get into the act, too.
It hosted world gymnastics and track titles, both of which were preludes to the World Cup, which is costing the country an estimated $220 billion. The country might be banking on the reality that, regardless of the issues that dog a host in the lead-up, most worldwide sporting events are ultimately judged by the quality of the event itself.
WATCH | CBC Sports' Shireen Ahmed on how media should handle World Cup:
The country recruited hundreds of fans to receive free trips to the World Cup in exchange for promoting positive content on social media about the event and the host.
With the World Cup approaching, human rights and corruption allegations have emerged as prime topics, and figure to remain that way until the championship trophy is awarded on Dec. 18.
Qatar denies 'fake fan' conspiracy
Meanwhile, amid skepticism after days of fan parades in Doha and throngs of people greeting team buses arriving at hotels, World Cup organizers insisted Wednesday the atmosphere is authentic.
"Numerous journalists and commentators on social media have questioned whether these are 'real' fans," Qatari tournament organizers said in a statement. "We thoroughly reject these assertions, which are both disappointing and unsurprising."
Many fans who have gathered wearing team colours are originally from India — a cricket-crazed country which never played at a World Cup — and among the large majority of overseas workers in Qatar's 2.9 million population.
Fans traveling from overseas typically do not arrive at a World Cup until closer to their teams' first game and the tournament starts on Sunday.
Suggestions that Qatar was hiring people to be fans followed reports this month that tournament organizers were paying all expenses for about 1,600 fans drawn from the 31 visiting teams to travel and sing in the opening ceremony on Sunday.
The invited fans must stay for at least two weeks and are encouraged to post positive social media content about Qatar and the tournament, while reporting accounts which post abusive comments online.
It seems that perhaps people not being bankrolled by World Cup organizers, for instance, foreign media, might not be as welcome as the fans who have invited.
Media freedom at World Cup questionable
Also, Qatari World Cup organizers have apologized to a Danish television station whose live broadcast from a street in Doha was interrupted by security staff who threatened to break camera equipment.
Journalists from the TV2 channel "were mistakenly interrupted" late on Tuesday evening, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy acknowledged in a statement.
"Upon inspection of the crew's valid tournament accreditation and filming permit, an apology was made to the broadcaster by on-site security before the crew resumed their activity," organizers said.
Reporter Rasmus Tantholdt was speaking live to a news anchor in Denmark when three men drove up behind him on an electric cart and tried to block the camera lens.
The incident five days before the World Cup starts revisited a subject that has been sensitive for tournament organizers who have denied claims there are strict limits on where media can film in Qatar.
Qatari organizers said they later spoke to Tantholdt and also "issued an advisory to all entities to respect the filming permits in place for the tournament."
Denmark's soccer federation has also been one of the biggest critics of Qatar among the 32 World Cup teams over the emirate's record on human rights and treatment of low-paid migrant workers needed to build the infrastructure for the tournament.
Danish players will wear game jerseys that have a toned down badge and manufacturers' logo as a protest in support of labour rights when they play France, Australia and Tunisia in Group D.
A third-choice black jersey option has been included as "the colour of mourning," for construction workers who have died in Qatar.
