Qatar 2022: Sportswashing Success?
As the dust settles on Qatar’s World Cup, it is worth returning to consider some of the questions that were raised in the run-up to the tournament. Amid a public conversation about sportswashing – the use of sport to distract attention from human rights violations – many Western media organisations focussed on the issues associated with hosting the event to an unprecedented degree. Under the weight of negative press coverage, you could be forgiven for thinking that if Qatar wanted to draw attention away from their human rights record, they would be better off not hosting the World Cup. (more…)