A century of sportswashing
Dictators using sports as propaganda long predates the 2022 World Cup.
Qatar wanted the world’s attention, and it got it:
And it’s not just video the Qatari authorities are stage-managing:
An American journalist has claimed he was told by security to delete a photo he'd taken of a slogan on a wall in the World Cup media centre in Qatar, as it was 'not allowed'.
The World Cup is due to get underway on Sunday, with hosts Qatar kicking off the tournament against Ecuador.
Players, staff and media have been arriving in the middle-eastern country over the last couple of days, but it appears that they have not all had a warm welcome, according to American reporter Grant Wahl.
He has stated that he saw a slogan on a wall in the media centre that read: 'NOW IS ALL' and wanted to take a picture as it reminded him of a strange slogan from the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, 'HOT. COOL. YOURS'.
However, he has then recounted what happened next after he took the photo on his phone, detailing that he was approached by a security guard immediately who told him: 'Picture is not allowed, sir'.
Wahl tried to protest his innocence, but was then instructed to 'kindly delete it, sir'.
When FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, it raised some eyebrows, but I’m sure it was done strictly for the good of football and absolutely not because FIFA is a cesspool of corruption that would shame FTX.
But despite Qatar’s proud tradition of footballing excellence, concerns have been raised about the emirate using it to “sportswash” its image. And its oil-rich neighbors are getting in on the act:
The World Cup is just one way Qatar is using its massive wealth to project influence. By buying sports teams, hosting high-profile events, and investing billions in European capitals — such as buying London’s The Shard skyscraper — 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 Mbappé and Lionel Messi — and all will be in the World Cup.
Christian Pulisic is the first American to play in and win a Champions League final and he was already a three-time U.S. Soccer Federation player of the year. He is on Premier League team Chelsea, which was owned by a Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich.
Abramovich was widely hailed as that team’s savior during his 19 years of club control but put the team up for sale this year due to sanctions related to his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The new LIV Golf league is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which also owns another Premier League team, Newcastle, while defending English champion Manchester City was bought by the Abu Dhabi royal family in 2008.
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.
According to the CIA, journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed on the orders of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in 2018. The Saudi Public Investment Fund’s involvement became more of a lightning rod when Phil Mickelson said out loud what many already felt.
“They are scary (expletives),” the six-time major champion said in a much-cited interview with golf writer Alan Shipnuck of the FirePit Collective.
LIV Golf certainly deserves the criticism it’s getting, and yet there’s a part of me that feels like it’s being unduly singled out. As Greg Norman notes, the Saudis (your deserving hosted of the 2029 Asian Winter Games) have sponsored events on the LPGA tour for years.
Besides, I find golf deadly dull to watch. Give me a real sport, like Formula One cars driving really fast for two hours.
…which is also sponsored by Saudi Aramco, and includes a street race in Jeddah on its calendar. German legend Sebastian Vettel’s antics at this year’s Canadian Grand Prix, where his helmet featured an anti-oil-sands message and Aramco decals, might be the most Formula One thing ever.
Of course there’s nothing new about Qataris and Saudis and (until recently) Russians using sport to burnish their images. If anything, it’s long been the norm.
Contrary to popular belief, the 1936 Olympics weren’t awarded to Hitler - Germany had won that year’s games before he came to power - but he famously exploited them as Nazi Germany’s coming-out party to the world. But Hitler was actually following in the footsteps of Mussolini, who graciously hosted the World Cup two years earlier:
The Rest is History podcast recently posted a three-part series about the history of the World Cup, and how it’s long been used as a political showcase. The 1978 games in Argentina, then ruled by a far-right military junta, might have been the low point, with political prisoners locked up so close to the stadium, they could hear the cheering crowds.1 Even the official logo was inspired by authoritarian populist leader Juan Peron, who passed away a few years before the tournament, holding the ball:
Even when dictators didn’t host the event, they still used their participation for propaganda reasons. Brazil’s triumph in 1970 was heavily exploited by that country’s military dictatorship, and even in 2022, outgoing right-wing President Bolsonaro and his supporters wore yellow Brazilian football jerseys as their own version of the MAGA hat.
Mind you, it’s not just dictatorships using sport for nefarious, self-serving or nationalistic reasons. Corporate sponsorship of the World Cup and Olympics has been around a long time, but has become more prevalent than ever. And when England plays Germany, no prizes for guessing how the tabloids approach it:
We can argue about whether sportswashing and overcommercialization is worse in 2022 than it’s ever been. But people who pine for a more innocent age when it was only about the game are longing for an era which never actually existed, even if that’s how they remember it.
There is also a long-standing rumor that Dr. Joseph Mengele was in the crowd for the final match.
This is why I love "Downhill Racer" as much as I do. James Salter's prescient screenplay of how sports as they were (seriously, the way the team operates is actually QUAINT),will become and how Dave Chappelet has nothing to do with any of that, will never be part of it, but is The Future of Sports.