Promoting Terror or Sport? The Case of Qatar's International Image. (August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Samuel-Azran, Tal; Yarchi, Moran; Galily, Yair; Tamir, Ilan
• Other Names: Galily Yair guest-editor.; Yarchi Moran guest-editor.; Tamir Ilan guest-editor.; Samuel-Azran Tal guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: American behavioral scientist. Volume 60:Number 9(2016:Sep.)
• Page Start: 1101
• Page End: 1115
• Publication Date: 2016-08
• Subjects: Al-Jazeera -- Qatar -- terror -- sport -- FIFA -- World Cup -- ISIS; Social sciences -- Periodicals; Political science -- Periodicals; United States -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; 300
• DOI: 10.1177/0002764216632841
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-7642

Abstract

Qatar's successful bid for hosting the 2022 soccer World Cup is regarded as one in a series of attempts to change Qatar's image as a terror-sponsoring state. To understand the power of hosting megasport events to rebuild a country's international image, the present study compares the coverage of Qatari sport affairs with concurrent terror-sponsoring allegations, via a sentiment analysis of coverage of Qatari affairs by three international networks (SKY, CNN, and ITV) between August 20, 2013 and December 31, 2014. Surprisingly, the analysis found that terror-related articles contained significantly more positive sentiment than articles on other issues, whereas the tone toward Qatar in sport-related articles was significantly less positive than other topics. The study illustrates the limits of using sport as a soft power strategy, and underscores the superiority of on-the-ground efforts to deflect terror allegations as a strategy for improving a country's image.