World Cup 2022: Qatar is accused of 'sportswashing' but do the fans really care?

By Argyro Elisavet Manoli, Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in Sports Marketing and Communications, Loughborough University

Fifa’s choice of Qatar as host of the 2022 men’s football World Cup has been controversial since day one. Questions continue to be raised about the nation’s attitude to human rights, and its treatment of migrant workers.

To some, the entire event exemplifies the concept of “sportswashing” – using sport as a tool of soft power, to clean up (and distract from) a murky political or humanitarian reputation. And as a PR exercise,…

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