When the spotlight exposes too much: Qatar’s image problems in the context of the organization of the 2022 FIFA World Cup

This paper analyses the role of global sport within Qatar’s international strategy, most notably through the successful bid to stage the 2022 football World Cup. The article investigates how sport is used as a foreign policy tool to build relations with as many countries and people in the world as possible to gain soft power. I see the hosting of sports mega-events as the practice of public diplomacy: host states may use these events to change their international image. I examine issues of reputational risk with regard to critical comment surrounding Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 World Cup. In order to illustrate Qatar’s image problems, I will use examples from the Polish language Internet media.