Qatar vs. Germany: An analysis of Qatari reactions to western discursive othering during the 2022 FIFA World Cup

Abstract

Massive sports events always attract international attention. However, for attention-seeking countries, this is a double-edged sword because it is difficult to remain in control of the images produced by foreign media outlets. Since Qatar is eager to boost its image internationally, hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup was supposed to be a major step in the country’s comprehensive strategy to achieve this. However, Qatar faced strong criticism from western countries in the run-up to and during the World Cup, exemplified here by a cursory investigation of German media. Taking a postcolonial lens, we analysed the reactions to this criticism in Qatari media in opinion articles of three different sets of media, one focusing on the national Qatari public (Al-Sharq), one targeting the pan-Arab public (Al-Jazeera) and one targeting the western, English-speaking public worldwide (Al-Jazeera English). Two distinct discursive patterns were identified – one that aims to construct a particular identity mix of an Arab, Global Southern and Islamic ‘us’ against the ‘West’ as a kind of positively turned self-othering and another that actively deconstructs what is perceived as western hypocrisy. While the first pattern is exclusive to the Arab-speaking media, the second pattern was addressed in all three sets of media, albeit with different lines of argumentation depending on the target audience. While, for example, in Qatari national media, reactions to the allegation of Qatar violating or neglecting the rights of LGBTQ people are connected to an emphasis on a different, ‘conservative’ or ‘Islamic’ value system, Al-Jazeera Arabic and English presented their arguments in a more sophisticated manner and highlighted the double standards used by the West by including references to a neo-liberal world order and the remnants of a colonial past that continue to shape the West’s policies.