Qatar The Land Of Sports And Events by Dino Ruta

Author:Dino Ruta
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bocconi University Press

4.1.3 The Meaning for Qatar of Bidding for The World Cup

One of the reasons underlying Qatar’s decision to host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ is that sport has evolved as a prominent economic tool in the 21st century. Football is one of the most popular games, and it is celebrated across most of the countries in the world. According to the Nielsen Sports World Football Report 2018, about 40% of the entire world population is either “interested” or “very interested” in the sport. In line with QNV 2030, the sectors of sport, leisure and entertainment act as catalysts for the economic development of Qatar, which is seeking to diversify its portfolio of activities outside the oil and gas sector. From this perspective, soft power is the key driver underlying the desire to bid on and host major sport events such as the World Cup. Moreover, increasing soft power for Qatar would also lead to an improved national and international brand image of the country, and boost tourism and investments which will, once again, feed the economic development of the country as a whole.

Qatar exploited the opportunity of hosting several sport events over the last two decades. The country aimed at establishing a diversified economy and building the foundations of economic growth. By staging multiple sports events, the State is striving to secure sources of strategic communication. Strategic communication refers to resources that enable a country to disseminate a series of reputation-promoting messages over a sustained period. Obtaining and wielding such resources requires a high degree of planning, innovation and, most notably, competition, as nations come to compete with one another for scarce communications platforms that can help them stand out from the fuzziness of the global information society. So these resources can provide a significant competitive advantage when it comes to projecting soft power. Examples include the control of a successful global media network, such as Al Jazeera (headquartered in Qatar), or more relevantly, the staging of an international sports event.

For Qatar, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ helps the State achieve the four objectives that the QNV 2030 lists (see Section 1.3). By hosting the Cup, Qatar is attempting to overcome one of the greatest hurdles small states face, which is their invisibility on the world stage. Indeed, for highly recognized states, promoting their existence is of little concern, and image projection is rather focused on improving or adding to one’s international soft power. Small states, however, are commonly characterized by a lack of international awareness, and must first overcome this by capturing the attention of international audiences.

Alongside seeking to raise awareness of its existence, and to further break from under the shadow of its larger, culturally similar neighbors like Saudi Arabia, the staging of a major event such as the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ serves an additional, long-term purpose, which demonstrates what Qatar has to offer to those beyond its borders. While capturing the attention of international audiences, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ also provides Qatar with a stage where it can display its relevance and attractiveness to others.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.